ASEAN tourism moves forward (SPECIAL REPORT: ATF 2008)

BANGKOK – For years, it seemed that meetings by ASEAN ministers and NTOs were more of formalities than concrete results. But the Bangkok edition seems to have achieved a lot more.



During a press conference hosted on January 20 by Dr. Sasithara Pichaichannarong, permanent secretary at the Ministry of Tourism and Sports of Thailand and chairperson of ASEAN NTOs, progress has been reported on a number of issues.



Pichaichannarong confirmed that ASEAN tourism integration by 2010 will be achieved. It will then provide the possibility for all ASEAN citizens to travel within the 10-country economic bloc without any visa. It will also open the opportunity for ASEAN citizens to work in another country. Authorities and ministers are now working on a common recognition of the region’s diplomas and certificates.



NTOs also agreed to improve travel by lands. “We will put Asean road signage and regulations at borders. The new signages will highlight cultural and natural assets as well as scenic roads,” said Pichaichannarong.



NTOs agreed on a marketing budget for 2008 fixed at US$ 7,500 per member, a novelty to previous years where contributions were calculated according to the importance of each member. “We then have now a total budget of US$ 75,000 besides our own national budget for tourism. We will then evaluate if it needs to be increase,” Pichaichannarong explained.

The budget will especially help to produce brochures not only in English but also in Japanese, Korean and Mandarin as well as strengthening the ASEAN image for a larger public.



“AirAsia recently put the ASEAN logo on one of its planes. We would like to see similar initiatives by other airlines or tourism bodies,” Pichaichannarong cited.



Another progressive step has been the inclusion of transport issues into the tourism meeting. She said air transport is an essential component of tourism and the tourism ministers will strongly recommend to their transport colleagues to speed up open sky policies to boost tourism movements. The open sky policies should then include also Korea, Japan, China and India. LCCs are now perceived as essential tools to the development of tourism over the years to come.



Finally, as the environment becomes an urgent issue, ASEAN NTOs agreed on the implementation of the ASEAN Green Hotel Standard, based on Thailand’s own vast experience in this field.



ASEAN countries achieved a new record last year with 54.5 million travellers, up by 7.2 percent. While the performance is satisfactory, it is, below earlier forecasts which predicted a growth of 11.17 percent to over 60.7 million travellers.