[Cheongsong Tourism Blossomingon the Strength of UNESCO] In 2020, the International Conference on UN

Jeju Island Hosts the International Conference on UNESCO Global Geoparks for the First Time in Koreaafter Winning the Competition with Danxianshan Global Geopark

In 2020, the International Conference on UNESCO Global Geoparks will be held in Jeju Island and this will be the first such conference held in Korea.

Jeju was officially selected as a venue for the next conference at the 8th International Conference on UNESCO Global Geoparks, which was held in Trentino, Italy from September 8 to 14 last year.

Jeju and China competed to become a venue for the next conference. Jeju Convention Center and Jeju Convention Bureau were presented as the strengths of JejuIslad to host the conference. Jejustressed the advantages of the two institutions, both the central places of Jeju's MICE industry, to persuade members of the UNESCO Global Geopark Council and members of the UNESCO Global Geoparks Network.

Particularly, Won Hee-ryong, Governor of Jeju Special Self-Governing Province, sent a message about his will and efforts to manage a successful conference and this secured considerable trust from members of the UNESCO Global Geopark Council.

The International Conference on UNESCO Global Geoparks is bienniallyheld, and it is attended by member countries of the UNESCO Global Geoparks Network, as well as many other countries wanting to host the conference.

At present, Jeju has organized a preparatory committee for the conference and prepared a basic plan. On April 26, an appointment ceremony of the chairman (Jeon Seong-tae, administrative vice governor) of the preparatory committee was held and the basic plan for the conference was discussed there.

The preparatory committee is responsible for the planning and overall operation of the conference, reviewing abstracts of presentations and arranging sessions. And it will be operated until September 2020 when the conference will be held.

The theme of the conference is "Fun Geopark." The conference will be held at Jeju Convention Center and other venues from September 14 to 20, 2019.It is expected that the conference will be attended by more than 1,200 people from about 70 countries including 140 member areas from 38 countries with Global Geoparks.