An annual Pacific Asia Travel Association conference has kicked off at the international convention center in Cheju Island.

Attending the opening ceremony of the conference Monday, Acting President Goh Kun said the Asia Pacific tourism industry has enormous growth potential.

Goh went on to say that the region's tourism industry must recover from the prolonged dry spell caused by the September 11th terrorist attacks in the United States, the U.S.-led war in Iraq, and jitters over local outbreaks of severe acute respiratory syndrome and bird flu.

Meanwhile, PATA President and CEO Peter de Jong said in a welcoming speech that although travel used to be considered an exclusive right limited to the privileged minority, it is now a right for all people that want to enhance their quality of life.

More than two thousand government and tourism officials from 50 countries around the world are taking part in this year's conference - the organization's 53rd general session.

Some of the dignitaries taking part in the meeting are tourism ministers from Indonesia and New Zealand, Dan Robinson, the CEO of the Hong Kong branch of Disneyland as well as Tony Wheeler, author of the internationally acclaimed travel guide series, Lonely Planet.

It is the fourth time South Korea has hosted the congress of tourism officials, with the latest one held in Seoul in 1994.