The
ASEAN Tourism Forum ended on a high 26 January, with ASEAN tourism ministers
itemising a list of achievements for the regions robust travel and tourism
sector.
Lauding
the completion of a strong VisitASEAN@50 campaign in 2017, which generated a
better than expected response, ASEANs 10 tourism ministers were optimistic
about new marketing campaigns for ASEAN tourism in 2018 and beyond.
The
ministers revealed the following new priorities:
There
will be a new emphasis on promoting the many aspects of gastronomic travel, as
outlined in the minsters Joint Declaration on Gastronomy and Tourism. The
declaration notes that, "gastronomic tourism helps to create a strong sense of
place for branding and marketing destinations, and also assists in maintaining
and preserving local heritage and identity, and protecting biodiversity".
Cruise
tourism will be developed further due to its high economic impacts. There will
be renewed focus on the effectiveness of destination management, specifically
environmental and social issues and the welfare of local communities that
cruise tourism touches.
Cross
border bus and coach traffic will also be promoted further, following an
agreement by ASEAN Transport Ministers to ease restrictions. The ministers
noted that recommendations from studies on recognising domestic driving
licences in neighbouring ASEAN countries could boost tourism significantly,
especially if there were road enhancements along major tourism corridors.
Ministers
noted that the quality of work supplied by tourism professionals throughout
Southeast Asia will continue to rise, in part, due to the completion of all 242
toolboxes for job training. Jakarta will host a permanent secretariat in
order to improve and unite tourism industry standards across ASEAN.
The
Tourism Ministers at ATF were buoyed by public and travel industry response to
VisitASEAN@50 campaign in 2017. Based on preliminary figures from member
states, ASEAN is expected to receive 125 million international visitors,
exceeding the target of 121 million international tourist arrivals to the
region set for VisitASEAN@50.
"As
we celebrate this most recent success," said Weerasak Kowsurat, Minister
for Tourism and Sports of Thailand, who chaired the Ministers meeting, "we
still recognise the scale of the task before us and the urgency in
enhancing our competitiveness to achieve sustainable development. We must
therefore ensure that we unite to create the synergy which brings about
inclusive growth and that none of us is left behind."
If
confirmed, this new record will indicate a growth of 8.4 per cent from 2016.
Arrivals were dominated by intra-ASEAN travel, accounting for 42 per cent of total
international arrivals.
Targets
for length of stay and revenue were also achieved, with ASEAN averaging 7.98
days of stay for international tourists, generating an estimated US$93 billion
from tourism in 2017.
ATF
2019 will be held in Halong Bay, Viet Nam in January next year. The 2020
edition will be in Brunei Darussalam.
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