35th Asean Tourism Forum 2016

UPDATE: 35th ASEAN TOURISM FORUM 2016

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ASEAN targeting big neighbors to hike inbound tourism volume

PHILIPPINES - The 10-member Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), in positioning and promoting itself as a single destination, is targeting the region’s big neighbors as a strategy to raise inbound tourism volume as fast as possible.

This assessment emerged from the lineup of activities in the forthcoming ASEAN Tourism Forum (ATF) 2016 slated in Manila on January 18-22.

The schedule of ATF 2016 meetings involving non-ASEAN countries shows China, Russia and India, aside from Japan and Korea, figuring prominently.

Those three countries form part of the so-called BRICS, the acronym for Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, all emerging markets and investment destinations that have been posting enormous economic growth for more than a decade.

While there have been signs of decline in their growth rates, those five countries with large populations and hefty dollar reserves from their economic booms remain a vast source of tourists for inbound travel to ASEAN, especially the nearby India to the west, and Russia and China to the north.

Their importance to ASEAN is acknowledged by ATF 2016 Philippine Host Committee Chairman and Undersecretary Benito C. Bengzon Jr. of the Department of Tourism (DOT), who describes their regular inclusion in this annual regional meeting as “strategically mutual” for all intents and purposes.

“The proximity to ASEAN of Russia, India and China -- together with Japan and Korea -- makes us all account for more than a contiguous half of the entire Asian continent. Travel between those countries and ASEAN entails less time and cost than anywhere else beyond,” Bengzon said.

Included among the invited foreign buyers at ATF 2016 are travel agents from South Africa, which is much closer to ASEAN than Brazil that lies far across the Pacific. Nonetheless, Brazil will have a delegate to the ATF.

“And by proximity alone, ASEAN becomes attractive to the people of those countries, which can help our tourism volume attain critical mass and get our region promoted as an integrated destination for the world market by mere word of mouth. It’s a strategy that just turns up and happens naturally,” Bengzon explained.

He said surplus capital from developed and emerging markets could also help ASEAN expand its absorptive capacity for tourism through investments in property development and support infrastructure.

“But we have to do that (product and property development) according to the current and projected requirements of the market. That’s why ASEAN does consultative meetings with our Asian neighbors. We cannot afford to have a disconnect simply because of gaps in communication and diplomacy at levels that matter most,” Bengzon stressed.

Thus, participating in ATF 2016 are some 2,600 delegates from 64 countries, at least 438 of them are wholesale buyers of tourism products and travel packages and 86 are members of the media from 37 countries. They will also have the opportunity to visit the ASEAN exhibits and see what makes this region a single, unified destination. Included in their itineraries are post-event tours on Jan. 23-26 to heritage sites in the Ilocos, Cordillera and Southern Tagalog regions, and eco-adventures in Palawan, Bicol, Bohol, Cebu, Siquijor, Negros Oriental and Davao.

Comprising the huge foreign delegation are industry players and decision makers from the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Hong Kong, Belgium, India, Bangladesh, Greece, Netherlands, France, Poland, Malaysia, Indonesia, South Africa, Cambodia, Bulgaria and Japan, among others.

“And for the very first time, the ATF has just been organized specifically to provide a fully-integrated ASEAN brand experience to the global market, ironically but deliberately key messaging our regional diversity as a brand-defining differentiator, whose visual idiom translates into ‘complete tourism package’,” Bengzon stressed.

Ref: Joy A. Gador / Tel. No. (63 2) 533-9732 / MEGAReach


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Phone: (63 45) 625-8525
Email: tourismregion3@gmail.com
Recipient: PATA Gold Intl Award 2001, Kalakbay Natl Award 2001, ASEANTA Intl Award 2002 for Best Ecotourism Project
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35th ASEAN TOURISM FORUM Enlarge Photo PRESS RELEASE 01 / 05 / 2016 TEN TOURISM CZARS OF ASEAN TO MEET IN MANILA AT 2016 ATF PHILIPPINES - The tourism ministers of the ten countries constituting the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) are meeting in Manila at the staging of the 35th ASEAN Tourism Forum (ATF) this month to map out an integrated tourism development plan and policy framework for the entire region. The ministers, according to the Department of Tourism (DOT), will also meet with the officers of the national tourism organizations (NTOs) of the ASEAN-member countries during the ATF 2016. Comprising the NTOs are industry players and regulators of the various tourism sectors of Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. The daily meetings will be held at the Hotel Sofitel Philippine Plaza from January 18 to 22 as DOT marketing arm Tourism Promotions Board rolls out the ATF exhibits at the SMX Convention Center, Mall of Asia, for the entire duration of the 8-day international event, or up to January 25. DOT Undersecretary and ATF 2016 Philippine Host Committee Chairman Benito C. Bengzon Jr. said the ATF exhibits featuring the bests of ASEAN would give thousands of visitors from all over the world an awesome viewing experience. Among the visitors will be hundreds of foreign buyers and members of the international media. “Representing the Philippines at the ASEAN Ministers Meeting is (DOT) Secretary Ramon R. Jimenez Jr., who sees the region emerging as a major player in global tourism,” Bengzon said. “The policies to be formulated and polished will be based on the inputs from the various NTOs and how these can be reconciled with the current laws of the ASEAN-member countries and immediately implemented across the board. The overriding objective is to come up with a single tourism policy infrastructure, legal framework or strategic platform for all of ASEAN that will be in line with the AEC (ASEAN Economic Community) blueprint 2025 formulated recently (Nov. 22, 2015 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) and boost the inflow of tourists, not just to one or two countries, but throughout the region,” Bengzon pointed out. “The objective is to make ASEAN tourism contribute to the overall regional economic integration agenda that is envisioned to address the human requirements of Southeast Asia’s 622 million people,” Bengzon explained. “That regional population is equivalent to a whopping US$2.6 trillion consumer market, which can be translated into a massive human resource with a GDP or total economic output of US$2.57 trillion at a growth rate of 4.6 percent in 2014, or much faster than the developing Europe’s 2.4 percent, Latin America’s 0.9 percent, and the combined Middle East’s and North Africa’s 2.2 percent, all based on World Bank figures,” Bengzon stressed. “And while global financial services firm Morgan Stanley has projected the world economy to contract by five percent last year, the ADB (Asian Development Bank) sees ASEAN economic growth rising by 4.9 percent in 2015 and 5.3 percent in 2016 to help balance the deceleration in China and cushion its global impact,” Bengzon added. He cited tourism as one of ASEAN’s major strategic and tactical weapons in perking up business activities, drawing investments from other global growth centers, generating employment, raising government revenues, increasing corporate and individual incomes, and broadening up the region’s domestic capital and entrepreneurial base to help fight poverty and resist global financial shocks. “We just have to collectively preserve, develop and promote our distinctly natural, historical and cultural tourism attributes as economic assets and use them sustainably in addressing the needs of the ASEAN people. As the saying goes: ‘The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.’ This exactly is what ASEAN tourism integration is envisioned to achieve and inspire through this year’s ATF theme ‘One Community for Sustainability.’ ASEAN’s tourism resources constitute a gold mine yet to be tapped as, indeed, the best is yet to come,” Bengzon stressed. Ref: Joy A. Gador / Tel. No. (63 2) 533-9732 / MEGAReach Emailcast to more than 10,000 online guests worldwide: Department of Tourism - Region III (Central Luzon) G/F Marlim Mansions Hotel Bldg., Diamond Subd., Balibago, Angeles City, Philippines Phone: (63 45) 625-8525 Email: tourismregion3@gmail.com Recipient: PATA Gold Intl Award 2001, Kalakbay Natl Award 2001, ASEANTA Intl Award 2002 for Best Ecotourism Project Log on: www.visitmyphilippines.com MORE THAN 25 MILLION ONLINE GUESTS HAVE VISITED THIS SITE SINCE 2007. FIND OUT WHY!