2024 Global ESG Conference

Conference Report

 

The 2024 Global ESG Conference was held in Jeju on May 28th, 2024, co-hosted by the Consortium of Global Sustainability (CGS) and the Jeju Free International City Development Center (JDC).

As a pre-conference activity, a special lecture by Mr. Stephen Hood (vice president of Smith Travel Research) was held at the Jeju Free International City Development Center (JDC) on May 27th. Based on various data, Mr. Hood presented an analysis of the room utilization rate and room unit price trends in the global hotel industry after the COVID-19 pandemic and insights into future trend prediction.

On the day of the conference on the 28th, 130 scholars and experts from 12 countries participated in discussing the ESG management paradigm in various ways and presented their research on ESG management.

Professor Kaye Chon (Dean of the School of Hotel and Tourism Management, Hong Kong Polytechnic University), who took the podium as the first keynote speaker, emphasized the importance of sustainable development and the need for continuous research and sharing on sustainable values. Accordingly, the value of this conference was emphasized once again, as many members of society from various fields, classes, and interests can participate. As the second keynote speaker, Chairman Yang Young-Chul of JDC delivered a lecture that re-emphasized the value and meaning of this conference by emphasizing that multi-layered cooperation and collaboration between the government, businesses, and academia is a shortcut to enabling sustainable development and sharing of social values in the future. President Oh Deok-sung (president of Woosong University) also delivered a message that he hopes the Global ESG conference, which can share the meaning of shared and social values, will be a more significant opportunity to further emphasize the keyword ESG. Finally, Mr. Park Sung-Hoon, head of the Center for Social Value Enhancement Studies (CSES), emphasized, "Since ESG issues are now directly affecting our lives and communities and are not distant stories to come in the future, we need to realize ESG values more actively on a regional basis."

Following the keynote speech, a panel session discussed ESG management strategies with industry ESG experts.

In an industry panel session moderated by Dr. Minwoo Lee of the University of Houston, Mr. Stephen Hood (vice president of Smith Travel Research) analyzed data related to leisure markets and integrated resorts in Korea and other Asian countries. He also analyzed Jeju Island's current competitiveness through supply and demand and performance comparison. Next, Dr. Pornpisanu Promsivapallop (Dean of Prince of Songkla University in Thailand) said that there are various educational and research projects to practice ESG in Phuket's tourism industry and that the role of the university in the process, emphasizing the need for more active attention from academia. Mr. Lee Jin-Ho (managing director of Jeju Shinhwa World) last spoke and introduced ESG management practices and related services at Shinhwa World. He explained, "Various ESG activities linked to Jeju's hotel and tourism industry are essential to responsible and sustainable growth."

In the academic panel session moderated by Dr. Jaewook Kim of University of Houston, Dr. Shawn Soo-Cheong Jang of Purdue University and Professor Haiyan Song of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University presented unadulterated opinions on the current ESG & sustainability research trends, research gaps in the literature, and directions for future research and education on ESG. Dr. Jang proposed a need for a more comprehensive and empirical sustainability research design that can create value in society as a whole. Professor Song stated that it is time for further understanding and research on economy, management, finance, and strategy, and emphasized the importance of data analysis, interpretation of academic results, and establishment of realistic strategy. It was a meaningful session where two scholars shared their advice on value creation, shared value, and sustainable development, emphasizing the need for broader research on Corporate Governance.

Following the panel sessions, research on the topics of 1) ESG- Community Wellness, 2) ESG- Innovative Technology Session, 3) ESG-Consumer Behavior, and 4) ESG- Operation & Management, were presented. In particular, Dr. Jaebeom Suh of Kansas State University presented research that discovered that ESG discussions are needed on social contribution activities, such as support for the socially underprivileged, such as the elderly. During his research presentation, Dr. Minwoo Lee (University of Houston) stressed that the digital responsibility of governments and companies is growing in the era of ESG and digital transformation and that discussion and establishment of a code of conduct on digital responsibility are urgent.

Next, the ESG Idea and Research Proposal Challenge was held for undergraduate and graduate students. During this session, students gave presentations on the topics of ESG measurement platforms, ESG management strategies, ESG social media marketing, and ESG service implementation plans in tourist destinations. The winners of the first place in the undergraduate ESG Idea Challenge were Hoi Lam Poon and Mina Kang, students from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, who proposed the idea of upcycling hotel waste into fashion items. Ho Lam Chung, Wei Xiang Lim, and Zekai Chen, the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, who proposed the development of a platform that provides the hotel industry with an ESG measurement scale as a one-stop service, were awarded second place in the undergraduate ESG Idea Challenge. Academia and industry personnel showed great interest in students’ presentations as various and novel ideas were introduced.

For the ESG Research Proposal Challenge, Simon Hahn from the University of Houston received the first place award for his research proposal entitled “Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Practices In Hospitality Firms: A Comparison With Non-hospitality Firms.” Sungyeon Ryoo from the University of Houston was awarded second place in the ESG Research Proposal Challenge for her research proposal entitled “Increasing ESG Engagement of Gen Z, Millennials: Motivation to create user-generated content.” In addition to the two winners' research proposals, various research topics and directions emphasizing the importance of ESG were introduced and shared amongst the graduate students.

During the closing ceremony, Dr. Ki-Joon Back (University of Houston), founder of CGS and organizer of the conference, thanked those from various fields of academia, business, and government for participating in the conference and reminded everyone once again that the Global ESG conference differentiates itself from other conferences in a sense that it is a people-centered and sharing-oriented conference, rather than a conference that is the center of research papers. He also shared the message that the most fundamental purpose of this conference is to protect and benefit all stakeholders of the ESG model and to work together to build a better society. Above all, he urged everyone to contribute to developing a healthy and safe wellness tourism business in Jeju. Lastly, Dr. Back expressed his gratitude for the support of JDC, CSES, Haenam-gun, and many organizations for sponsoring this conference, and the conference closed off with President Pornpisanu Promsivapallop introducing the 2025 Global ESG Conference, which is planned to take place in Phuket, Thailand in May 2025. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Date : May 27~29, 2024
Venue : Maison GLAD Hotel in Jeju, South Korea
Hosts : 
- Jeju Development Center
- Consortium for Global Sustainability (CGS)
Organizer :
- Maker's Valley
Sponsors :
- Center for Social value Enhancement Studies (CSES)
- Korea Tourism Research Association
- Conrad N. Hilton College of Global Hospitality Leadership. University of Houston
- School of Hotel and Tourism Management, The Hong Kong Polytech University
- STR
- Hanyang University
- Prince of Songkla University, PSU
- Haenam-Gun
Details :
- 2024 Global ESG Conference Flyer (PDF)

Dear CGS Members, 

As our first news of the year, we are excited to share that the "2024 Global ESG Conference (2024 GEC)" will be held at the Maison GLAD Hotel in Jeju, South Korea on May 27th - 29th. 

We would like to invite you to participate in the conference by making a presentation on a topic related to the general theme of ESG. You might consider the following topics/issues in preparing your proposal: 

  • ESG scale development 
  • Financial performance and ESG 
  • ESG reporting 
  • Internal marketing for ESG practices 
  • Environmental issues and ESG 
  • Technology advancement and ESG 
  • Accessible tourism and destination marketing 

Participants may give presentations in the following formats:

  • 15-minute stand-up presentation
  • 3-minute- Power Talk (3MPT) presentation
  • Collegiate ESG Idea Innovation Challenge -  Undergraduate Students ESG Idea Competition
  • Collegiate ESG Research Proposal Challenge -  Graduate Students ESG Research Proposal Competition

Please submit following the guidelines below: 

  • Stand-up presentation and 3-minute Power Talk presentation
    • MS Word format (Times New Roman Font, size 12, and double-spaced) 
    • Word limit: should not exceed 1,500 words (not including references and tables)
  • Collegiate ESG Idea Innovation/Research Proposal Challenge
    • Undergraduate Students ESG Idea Competition - 15-20 PowerPoint slide decks (not including references) submitted in PDF format
    • Graduate Students ESG Research Proposal Competition - 3-page extended abstracts (Times New Roman Font, size 12, and double-spaced , around 1,000 words)
  • Make submissions through EasyChair system: 

https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=2024gec

 

Registration fee (registration site to be shared soon): 

  • Student: US$75
  • Faculty/Industry/Government Participant: US$150

 

Conference Hotel Information

 

Important Dates: 

  • Conference hotel early bird rate deadline: February 15th, 2024.
  • Extended abstracts & PowerPoint Slides submission deadline: March 10th, 2024 (by 11:59 p.m., Central Time, USA)
  • Notification of acceptance: March 17th, 2024
  • Registration deadline: March 31st, 2024. (At least one author should register for the conference by this date.)

 

Lastly, we are seeking your sponsorship to make the conference successful. For the educational institution sponsorship - $1,500 includes the following benefits. 

  • Banner of your school logo on the official conference website
  • A full-page advertisement in the conference program
  • A space for setting up the marketing materials to recruit prospective students
  • Three registration fee waivers for the conference from your organization
  • Recognition during the opening and closing sessions

 

For more detailed information and conference schedule, please refer to the attached PDF file. We look forward to seeing you all in Jeju and should you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at [email protected] or Dr. Minjung Shin at [email protected].

latest conference flyer(pdf)
conference flyer archive(pdf)