The TULU 2024 World Indigenous Tourism Summit (WITS) concluded today (April 18) at the Kaohsiung Exhibition Center, with Minister Icyang Parod of the Council of Indigenous Peoples, members from various countries of the Austronesian Forum, and leaders from the World Indigenous Tourism Alliance (WINTA) present. Over the course of two and a half days, the summit featured two keynote speeches, four forum topics, and six group discussions, with over 600 representatives from 27 countries and regions in attendance.

Under the auspices of Minister Icyang, the closing ceremony of the summit witnessed the symbolic return of the 2023 summit artifact, the New Zealand Pounamu, to WINTA. This gesture brought the summit to a successful conclusion. Additionally, from this afternoon (April 18) until April 20, arrangements have been made for foreign delegates to embark on three different tribal visit routes. These visits aim to provide participants with an immersive experience of the diverse lifestyles of Taiwan's indigenous peoples and the various tourism initiatives implemented by different tribes.

The summit this year proved fruitful, with participants coalescing around six key visions and goals for indigenous tourism cooperation, summarized as follows:

Realizing Indigenous Rights: Governments worldwide are responsible for adopting indigenous perspectives and formulating policies encompassing cultural and ecological preservation, green circular economy initiatives, and climate change adaptation.

Culturally Sustainable Tourism: Indigenous communities globally should invest effort to documenting and preserving various forms of cultural expression. Through indigenous tourism, they can propagate and promote the values of their culture.

Ecologically Sustainable Tourism: It is imperative for all sectors to recognize indigenous peoples as custodians of global natural ecosystems and biodiversity. Indigenous communities should have the authority to preserve these ecosystems and share their knowledge and significance with the public.

Local Perspective Guided Tourism: Indigenous peoples of all nations should lead the narrative of local perspectives. They should transform their cultural stories and ecological wisdom into catalysts for promoting tourism. Tour agencies should respect the stories told by local people from their own perspective.

Sharing Economic Benefits of Tourism Promotion: Indigenous peoples and the tourism industry should establish equal cooperation models to ensure that all parties benefit from promoting indigenous tourism.

Practicing Responsible Travel Objectives: The tourism industry should share the same sense of mission with indigenous peoples in protecting natural ecosystems, acting as bridges for communication between indigenous peoples and tourists.