ASEAN Tourism to Focus on Regional Market

ASEAN tourism ministers at a meeting in Hanoi on January 8 agreed on the need for further exploration of the regional market and the involvement of the private sector in the industry.

 

These measures will help mitigate impacts of the current global economic downturn on tourism sector, the participants said at the 12th meeting of the tourism ministers of the Association of the Southeast Asian nations (ASEAN).

 

The ministers suggested tourism officials in the member countries cooperate with private businesses in offering highly competitive package tours to ASEAN customers as well as those from China, Japan and the Republic of Korea, which are the region’s major markets.

 

They also reaffirmed their commitment to accelerate integration and enacting the initiative by ASEAN’s top national tourism officers (NTOs) on developing a strategic plan for the industry in the 2011-2015 period.

 

The meeting adopted a Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA), which is expected to improve human resources for tourism and facilitate the move of skilled tourism workers in the region.

 

Further steps are expected after the signing of the agreement to improve the capacity of concerned regional and national agencies within the MRA framework.

 

Last year, ASEAN countries held a number of promotional activities to expand their foothold in potential markets, including an agreement to establish an ASEAN-Korea center in Seoul in early 2009, the ASEAN-India conference in Myanmar last August on Buddhist pilgrimage tours, and the ASEAN Tourism Investment Forum in the Philippines last July.

 

The regional tourism industry served 54 million foreign visitors in 2008, some 7 per cent higher than the previous year, despite the ongoing global financial crunch and political turmoil in some member countries. (Local sources)