[Event] CTR International Symposium 2026
公開日 2026.09.18
Center for Tourism Research (CTR) has organized an annual symposium series since 2022, focusing on the two core areas of Tourism Education and Destination Management. The series aims to enhance regional and cultural value while disseminating tourism research outcomes to a global audience through multidisciplinary dialogue and discussion.
This year, under the overarching theme, “Tourism Education to Enhance Sensibility* and Empathy and Destination Management —Linking to Regenerative Tourism—,” the symposium will bring together researchers and practitioners in Japan to explore how tourism education can cultivate sensibility, empathy, and values, and how these capacities can inform destination management from the perspective of regenerative tourism, which seeks the renewal of people, nature, and communities beyond sustainability.
Further details about the schedule and our speakers are available below.
We look forward to welcoming you to the symposium.
*Pre-registration is required. Attendance is free of charge.
CTR International Symposium 2026
“Tourism Education to Enhance Sensibility and Empathy and Destination Management —Linking to Regenerative Tourism—”
Symposium Overview
The rapid advancement of AI and related technologies is transforming social structures and everyday life. At the same time, growing environmental challenges are prompting renewed reflection on the relationship between nature, human activity, and technology.
In this context, tourism, as a practice grounded in encounters and relationships with people, nature, and communities, takes on new significance. Increasing attention is being paid to regenerative approaches that seek not merely to sustain but to renew ecosystems and socio-economic systems. In the tourism field, regenerative tourism has emerged as an important framework for rethinking destination development and management beyond conventional sustainability.
At the same time, building meaningful relationships with others requires qualities such as sensibility, empathy, and values. When combined with knowledge and technical skills, these capacities have the potential to reshape not only tourism practices but also broader social and cultural development.
This symposium explores how sensitivity, empathy, and values can be cultivated through tourism education and how these capacities influence destination management.
Date & Time
Day1: Friday, October 30, 2026, 10:50 – 12:20 (Japan Standard Time, GMT+9). * The reception desk will open at 10:40.
Day2: Saturday, October 31, 2026, 13:25 – 17:00 (Japan Standard Time, GMT+9). * The reception desk will open at 13:00.
Venue
[In-Person]
Day1: *TBA, Wakayama University
Day2: Room E1-102, East Bldg.1, Wakayama University *Access
[Online]
Both days: Via Zoom Webinar
*For the best experience and security, please ensure your Zoom application is updated to the latest version. Please check the Zoom official website.
Language:
Day1: Japanese Only
Day2: Japanese and English *Simultaneous interpretation is arranged.
Registration
Please click the link below to register for either in-person or online attendance.
Register for In-Person Attendance ｜ Register for Online Attendance
*In-Person Attendance:
・Deadline: Monday, October 26, 17:00 (Japan Standard Time, GMT+9).
・Registration will close once the limit is reached, even if it is before the deadline.
*Online Attendance:
・Capacity: 500 participants. Registration may close even if capacity is reached.
Your personal information will be handled in accordance with our Privacy Policy
Schedule
Day1: Friday, October 30
| 10:40～ | Reception desk opens. *Zoom webinar opens at 10:40. | |
|---|---|---|
| 10:50 | ●Opening MC: Prof. HORITA Yumiko (Director of CTR; Professor at Faculty of Tourism, Wakayama University) |
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| 10:55～12:15 |
●Keynote speech
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| 12:15 | Closing | |
Day2: Saturday, October 31
| 13:00～ | Reception desk Open *Zoom webinar opens at 13:20. | |
|---|---|---|
| 13:25 | Opening | |
| 13:30～14:30 | ●Keynote Speech “Practices and Utopias of Values-Based Tourism Education” Speaker: Dr. EDELHEIM Johan (Professor of Tourism and Media, Research Faculty of Media and Communication, Hokkaido University, Japan) Short biography: Johan Edelheim is a Professor of Tourism and Media at Hokkaido University. He has over a decade of international experience in the hospitality and tourism industries, followed by a transition into secondary and tertiary education. Since relocating to Japan in 2019, the eighth country in which he has lived and worked, he has continued to explore the intersections of tourism, education, philosophy, and society. His research is driven by a commitment to care for human and more-than-human others.His teaching encompasses undergraduate and postgraduate courses that explores the interconnection between tourism, media, and society - focused on philosophy, popular culture, and tourist attractions. Many of his courses have embodied activities as core components of the learning experience. Johan's research explores outdoor-based, embodied and multimodal pedagogies, drawing on Indigenous learning and peripatetic traditions. His research interests include a) the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) in tourism Higher Education; b) Critical Tourism Studies (CTS) connected to the climate emergency, identity, ethnicity, and power relations; c) foundational philosophies of tourism and hospitality, especially axiology; and d) domesticated more-than-human-related tourism. |
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| 14:30～17:00 |
●Panel Discussion “Attempts at Tourism Educational Practices to Enhance Sensibility and Empathy, and Their Link to Regenerative Tourism” ■Presentations on Educational Practice
■Presentations on Regenerative Tourism Practices
Moderator: Dr. KATO Kumi (Project Professor, Faculty of Tourism, Wakayama University) |
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| 17:05 | Closing | |
Organizer
Center for Tourism Research, Wakayama University
Contact
Center for Tourism Research, Wakayama University
E-mail：*Click here to the Contact page.
