More than 300 representatives from geoparks in Asia-Pacific countries including representatives of the Shennongjia National Geological Park in central China’s Hubei province, took part in the 2013 Asia-Pacific Geological Tourism Seminar, which was held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center on Nov 30, hubeitour.gov.cn reported.

The seminar was jointly organized by the Hong Kong Association for Geoconservation, Hong Kong Global Geopark and the Geological Society of China’s tourism earth science and geological park research branch.

Experts and scholars who participated in the event discussed the development of geological tourism, its opportunities and the challenges the industry faces. They also gave lectures on subjects such as the construction of China’s geoparks, and audio-guide systems in some of the parks.

Experts attending the seminar included Nicolas Zourous, member of the Global Geoparks Network (GGN) of UNESCO, Ross Dowling, advisor to the Asia-Pacific Geoparks Network Symposium, Chen Anze, researcher at the Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, and Zhao Zhizhong, deputy director of the National Geological Park Network Office of the Ministry of Land and Resources.

Edited by Niva Whyman