2nd International Conference on Responsible Tourism and Hospitality (ICRTH) 2022, 1 – 3 September 2022, Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia

Abstract

The 2nd International Conference on Responsible Tourism and Hospitality (ICRTH) was held at UCSI Hotel Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia from 1 to 3 September 2022. ICRTH2022 was organized by the Sarawak Research Society under the initiative of Responsible Borneo (REBORN) and UCSI University Sarawak Campus, co-hosted with the Ministry of Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts (MTCP) Sarawak and Business Events (BE) Sarawak (Responsible Borneo, 2022). 2021 was the first edition of the conference, though in that year the conference was held entirely online due to COVID-19 restrictions. Nevertheless, as borders to Malaysia opened, the conference was hosted with the theme “Mobilizing Responsible Tourism into Actions: Towards Economic Prosperity, Socio-Cultural Inclusivity and Environmental Sustainability.” This theme was an effort to advance the knowledge and practice of responsible behaviour and implement sustainable development through responsible tourism management. The conference organizers committed tremendous efforts to invite renowned experts to parti-cipate in topics such as responsible tourism and eco-tourism and created relevant industry sessions and workshops for academics and practitioners alike. The strong alignment of the conference theme was demonstrated in the concurrent academic sessions and keynote speeches, with discussions focused on topics such as sustainable tourism, responsible tourism, tourism education, tourism and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and ecotourism, among others. The opening ceremony was officiated by YB Dato Sri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah (Minister of Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Sarawak), and Harry Hwang, Director for Regional Department for Asia, and the Pacific, United Nation World Tourism Organization (UNWTO). They shared their thoughts on the responsible recovery of tourism in the post-COVID-19 context. The opening keynotes were followed by keynote speech by Liz Ortiguera, CEO of Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA),