About ITOP

Operational Manual

ITOP Forum Operational manual

Article 1. (Title) This Forum shall be called the ITOP FORUM (Inter-Island Tourism Policy Forum).

 

Article 2. (Coordinating Body) The Coordinating body of ITOP Forum shall be located in Jeju Special Self-Governing Province (Amended as of 2010. 11. 3.), the Republic of Korea and the ITOP Secretariat shall be located in Jeju Tourism Organization, Jeju Special Self-Governing Province (Amended as of 2015. 10. 5.).

 

Article 3. (Purpose of Establishment) The purpose of this Forum is to create a foundation for seeking cooperation in all related fields of tourism by participating governments; to discuss common areas of interest regarding tourism and jointly to foster tourism by negotiating, adjusting, and supporting the execution of the discussed tourism-related plans to contribute, through such activities, to the regional and the national development of each participating region.

 

Article 4. (Participating Parties) Participants in this Forum shall be the local governments of Jeju Special Self-Governing Province (Amended as of 2010. 11. 3.)- the Republic of Korea, Bali Province-the Republic of Indonesia, Hainan Province-the People’s Republic of China, Okinawa Prefecture-Japan, Southern Province-Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, the State of Hawaii-the United States of America, Zanzibar Municipality-the United Republic of Tanzania, Phuket-Thailand, Cebu-Philippines, Penang-Malaysia as permanent members (excluding Canary Islands in Spain as of 2015. 10. 5.); furthermore, Oulu Province-the Republic of Finland and the State of Salzburg-Austria shall be permanent cooperative partners (Amended as of 2006. 10. 13.). Another local government of islands agreed on the purpose of the Forum shall be allowed to participate as a general participant with permission from the Secretariat (Amended as of 2015. 10. 5.).

 

Article 5. (Characteristics of the Forum) This Forum is characterized by its being an inter-local government consulting body dedicated to discussing common tourism policies and providing mutual support in related matters.

 

Article 6. (composition of the Forum) This Forum shall be composed of the following:
¨ç The Governors’ Conference: As the highest decision-making body of this Forum, the meetings submit common political matters, matters related to budgets and recommendations, and agreement drafts with respect to participating local governments or international organizations
¨è The Working Level Representatives’ Meetings: These meetings discuss and execute matters decided and entrusted by the Governors’ Conferences and also oversee overall practical matters regarding the Forum.
¨é The Founding Permanent Members’ Meetings: These meetings consist of the founder members that are the local governments of Jeju Special Self-Governing Province-the Republic of Korea, Bali Province-the Republic of Indonesia, Hainan Province-the People’s Republic of China, and Okinawa Prefecture-Japan and approve admission of new members (Added as of 2006. 10. 13.).
¨ê The chairman of the Governors’ Conference and Working Level Representatives’ Meetings shall be from the local government under whose auspices the forum takes place (Amended as of 2011. 9. 29.). Decision-making of both meetings shall require a unanimous agreement (Amended as of 2010. 11. 3.).
¨ë Working Group Meeting: The Woking Group Meeting for the successful hosting of the forum consists of working-level staff (Director)(Added as of 2015. 10. 5.).

 

Article 7. (Major Agenda) The issues to be dealt with in the Forum shall be under the following articles which comply with the purpose of establishment in Article 3 and all participants shall be informed of these issues in writing three months in advance of the meeting by the government of the upcoming venue.
©ç Sharing of tourism development experiences and information.
©è Development of tourist routes and joint cooperative marketing.
©é Formation of unified tourist site concepts.
©ê To have exchanges between universities and groups of travel agents.
©ë Other matters contributing to the cooperation for inter-area tourism exchanges.

 

Article 8. (Eligibility) In principle, this Forum shall be attended by Governors, Tourism bureau directors (Working level representatives), and related section heads(Persons in charge); however, other officials may attend the Forum if approved by the working level representatives’ meeting.

 

Article 9. (Operation) The Forum includes a keynote address on designated subjects (Governors), theme presentations, working level representatives’ Meetings (Working Level Representatives), announcements of the joint statement, and working level agreement and symposium.

 

Article 10. (Selection of Host Countries and Date(s) of Forums) Regular Forum shall be held and if more than two (2) Member Regions submit, the next country will be decided at the Working Level Representative Meeting by majority consensus and it would be specified in the 'Joint Statement' instead of in the letter of resolution. The Host Countries of the upcoming and following forums shall be indicated. The date(s) of each forum shall be chosen by the Host Countries and confirmed at the Working Level Representatives' Meetings (Amended as of 2016.10.24.).

 

Article 11. (Expenses) Expenses related to the holding of Forums are as follows:
©ç Expenses related to the holding of Forums shall be the responsibility of sponsoring governments; however, round-trip air-fares and stay of members shall be paid by participants(Amended as of 2006. 10. 3.).
©è In principle, the host country for the next forum is required to dispatch an official to the forum secretariat for a year(Added as of 2015. 10. 5.).

 

Article 12. (Amendments) Amendments, deletions and/or revisions to this agreement shall be proposed by Governors, and the proposal shall be decided by the agreement of all participating members in the Forum(Amended as of 2006. 10. 3.).

 

Article 13. (Effective Date) This agreement will come into force by the signatures of all Governors participated in(Amended as of 2006. 10. 3.).

 

Article 14. (Expulsion) The member province who does not attend this Forum at least times could be expelled after asking the opinion of the province(Added as of 2007. 11. 6.).

 

Article 15. (Joining the Forum) The membership may be granted to an applicant that participated in the forum at least twice as a general participant with permission given by the original member regions. Application procedures are as follows:
1. Complete the ‘Membership Application’
2. Submit the application to the secretariat by e-mail or fax(Added as of 2007. 11. 6.) (Amendedas of 2009. 9. 29.) (Amended as of 2015. 10. 5).

 

The above-stated articles have been rendered in English. It has been signed as below and each region shall maintain the original Set of signed bocument. The English version of the signed bocument shall be the authoritative interpretation.

 

¡Ø The latest amendment of the above manual was made in 2016.