Led by Phuket Governor Sophon Suwannarat, the team were part of the second Global Sustainable Tourism Conference (GSTC), held at the Equarius Hotel in Resorts World Sentosa from Wednesday until yesterday (Nov 13-16).
The Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB) announced in April that Phuket had been selected to host a GTSC conference in 2026, a decision that was made and announced at the inaugural GSTC 2024 Global Conference in Stockholm, Sweden, which ran from Apr 23-26.
Themed “Regenerative Tourism”, GSTC 2026 is scheduled to take place in April 2026, with specific dates to be announced in due course. Fiji will host the next event between Aug 5-8 next year.
GTSC 2026 in Phuket is expected to attract over 700 attendees from more than 60 countries and to generate over B50 million in revenue, further strengthening the province’s reputation as a leading tourism and business hub, officials say.
Attendees will typically be from state authorities, hotels, tourism companies, online travel agencies, educational institutions, development organisations, non-governmental organisations and other sectors.
Governor Sophon leveraged the recent Singapore event to not only outline Phuket’s readiness and capability to host the esteemed gathering but to extend official invitations for guests to attend in April 2026.
Core themes discussed at the conference in Singapore included driving sustainable urban tourism, sustainable hospitality, integrating sustainability across the value chain and preserving culture, heritage and communities.
Governor Sophon delivered a keynote address in Singapore while Bhummikitti Ruktaengam, President of the Phuket Sustainable Tourism Development Foundation and Jayne MacDougall, Executive Director of the Phuket Hotels Association, were both speakers on separate conference session panels.