World Tourism Organization calls for 'Peace through Tourism' with Seoul-Beijing Bicycle Tour

A special bicycle tour from Seoul, Korea, to Beijing, China, organized by the members of the World Tourism Organization (WTO-headquarters in Madrid Spain) will help to commemorate the 15th World Tourism Organization General Assembly, which will be held in Beijing in October 2003.

Since Seoul was one of the host venue cities of the 14th WTO General Assembly in September 2001 in partnership with Osaka in Japan, this 2003  cycling tour will symbolize the importance of the WTO in the East Asian region.

In 2001 the " Seoul Osaka Bicycle Tour" - the first bicycle tour linking the two countries - connected the cities of Seoul and Osaka which co-hosted the  14th WTO General Assembly. That was followed last year by the "2002 China Bicycle Tour" linking Mongolia with China as part of the event titled "Bike in China". The 2003 Seoul-Beijing bicycle tour will be the third international cycling event to be held on these lines.

According to the organizers, this is an international bicycle event for everyone, amateur and professional, men and women, young and old, to  enjoy and share the experience under the WTO slogan of "Peace through Tourism". It is designed in the spirit of the World Tourism organization (WTO) philosophy, which is dedicated to combine the concepts of "Tourism", "Sports" and "Peace".

Each participant will travel by cycle, supported by surface transportation such as coach (bus), train and boat, sharing the experience by interacting with local people and enjoying the culture, history and sightseeing along the route.

The itinerary of the 2003 Seoul Beijing Bicycle Tour will travel through the northwest region of Korea for the first two days starting from Seoul, stopping over at an old Korean Buddhist Temple. It then moves to Dalian, China from Incheon, Korea by ferry boat. The tour continues from Dalian to  Shenyang by way of Zhanghe, Dangdong (Liaoning Sheng Province, Northeast China) and then transfers to an overnight train to Beijing for the Final run near the capital.

This event will be organized by "2003 Seoul Osaka Bicycle Tour Secretariat", which consists of Japan Airlines, Hanjin Travel, Shenyang Overseas International Travel Service Co Ltd., Korean Bicycle Team Pable, and will be promoted worldwide.