Taipei, Taiwan—UPF-Taiwan celebrated the UN International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development at its inaugural General Membership Meeting, held on March 14, 2017 at the National Taiwan Normal University in Taipei. One-hundred and five members of the chapter, Ambassadors for Peace and guests attended the event. Dr. Po-Ya Chang, president of the Control Yuan of Taiwan, gave the special remarks.
During the first half of the event, a report on the activities UPF-Taiwan organized in 2016 and a report on the chapter’s annual balance sheet were given. Also, members approved the budget plan for 2017 and voted for new board members for UPF-Taiwan’s sixth term (2017-2019).
After a short break, the second half of the event took place. A speech on “The Connotation and Prospect of Sustainable Tourism” was given by Dr. Homer C. Wu, professor and director of the Sustainable Tourism Center, Graduate Program of Sustainable Tourism and Recreation Management, National Taichung University of Education. He gave a definition of what sustainable is, and said that sustainable development had split into two: to “sustainable” and “development,” as more emphasis has been placed on development than on environmental factors. Dr. Wu presented a few case studies from Taiwan illustrating the importance of environmental protection, creating economic development strategies that are fair and balanced for all people, monitoring the social impact of tourism, and supporting the preservation of cultural heritage.
The second speaker was Dr. Wen-Yan Chiau, a former legislator, who shared his experience participating in UPF’s World Summit 2017, which took place in Seoul, Korea in February.