ASEAN tourism ministers meet in Vientiane to promote regional tourism

Vietnamese Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyen Van Hung joined his counterparts from nine ASEAN member countries and Timor Leste at the 27th Meeting of the ASEAN Tourism Ministers that took place in Vientiane, Laos on January 25.

Addressing the event, Minister Hung noted that ASEAN tourism showed bright signs in 2023. However, he held that ASEAN member countries should continue to work hard to promote the growth of regional tourism to catch up with other regions.

He proposed that regional countries should consider the organisation of large-scale international conferences, tourism fairs and festivals with the participation of ASEAN member countries.

At the same time, ASEAN should strengthen air transport connections to facilitate traveling activities, said the minister, underlining that closer connectivity among countries and destinations will provide better conditions for the regional tourism to recover and thrive.

Participants at the event discussed the implementation of actions within the ASEAN Tourism Strategic Plan (ATSP) for the 2016-2025 period as well as important priorities in the 2023-2024 period to support the recovery of the tourism sector.

They noted that 49 out of 64 actions in the strategy, or 76.6%, have been implemented. They encouraged ASEAN member countries to continue to carry out remaining actions, and hailed efforts and commitments of the countries in realising the ATSP after the COVID-10 pandemic.

They lauded the success of the joint meeting of ASEAN tourism and transport ministers, considering it the first high-level sectoral cooperation for regional tourism recovery.

They also called for proactively developing the ASEAN ecotourism standard as an economic priority initiative in 2024 under the country’s ASEAN Chairmanship, and expressed hope to complete and ratify the standards within 2024.

Concluding the meeting, the ministers adopted a joint press release of the 27th Meeting of the ASEAN Tourism Ministers, and agreed to organise the next meeting in Malaysia in January 2025.