From fully open skies to Caribbean-style cruises, the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is making concerted
efforts to brand this region as a single destination for
tourism.
Integration was the word at the 26th ASEAN Tourism Forum, which
closed down on Friday. Tourism ministers and industry organizations
from the ten ASEAN nations, with their dialogue partners from
China, Republic of Korea (ROK) and Japan, outlined plans to jointly
promote the region as a seamless destination and strengthen
connectivity between countries.
The tourism ministers said they were urging their transport
counterparts to work towards freer skies within ASEAN.
ASEAN has earlier agreed to implement open skies for
capital-to-capital flights by the end of 2008, and the tourism
ministers stressed to make efforts to implement the "Air Services
Liberalization Road Map" by 2010 to extend unlimited flights to all
cities beyond capitals.
While Singapore's Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong called for full
open skies for 40-year-old ASEAN before 2017 when it celebrates its
50th anniversary.
During the meetings, members also improved common understanding
on liberalizing travel barriers to facilitate easy cross-border
intra-ASEAN travel and making it convenient for visitors to travel
into and within ASEAN.
ASEAN, which groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia,
Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, has
identified tourism as a priority sector for economic integration.
It attracted more than 56 million visitors last year, 8 percent
higher than in 2005.
Another outcome of the meetings was to develop the region's
Caribbean-style cruises.
A working group tasked to draw up a roadmap for the project said
it would focus on building cruise terminals, launching a joint
marketing effort and training personnel in the coming years.
In addition, a website with information on Southeast Asia as a
cruise destination will be launched next month. ASEAN members can
update information on their own country on the website and it will
be managed by the ASEAN Secretariat.
During the ASEAN plus three meeting, ASEAN tourism leaders with
their counterparts from China, ROK and Japan agreed to reinforce
tourism cooperation.
Japan promised to contribute their expertise in cruise sector
while China and ROK promised to accelerate the establishment of
ASEAN-China Center and ASEAN-ROK Center respectively for promoting
trade, investment and tourism.
The ministers also discussed strengthening manpower development,
joint tourism marketing and promotion, quality assurance and safety
measures for tourists.
Last year, ASEAN attracted more than 8.26 million visitors from
the plus three countries while just contributed 4.4 million to the
latter.
To draw youth travelers was another hot topic during the
meetings.
ASEAN anticipates youth travel to be a key growth segment, as
World Tourism Organization estimates that youth travelers account
for up to 25 percent of all international travel.
The meetings drew a profile of a typical youth traveler: to be
independent, aged between 15 and 30 years, with an increasing
enthusiasm for traveling to far-flung and off-the-beaten-track
locations to experience different cultures. Budget limitations and
the willingness to visit more destinations encourage youths to
self-tailor their itineraries.
ASEAN tourism leaders launched a three-year drive to nurture the
youth market. The Philippines has been tasked to coordinate
promotional efforts for intra-ASEAN youth travel, including working
closely with youth associations in ASEAN.
They called on regional travel agents to come up with tailored
programs for youths, as well as budget carriers to develop special
packages targeted at the youths.
They also agreed to implement youth exchange projects and
student travel among ASEAN nations as well as the plus three
countries.
(Xinhua News Agency February 3, 2007)
