Asean tourism ministers discuss sustainable tourism, connectivity  

Tourism ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) on Thursday convened their 27th meeting in Vientiane, striving for high quality and responsible tourism as the region continues to promote Asean as a single tourist destination.

Asean tourism ministers link hands during the meeting.

Chaired by Lao Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism, Mrs Suanesavanh Vignaket, the meeting discussed recommendations made by Asean National Tourism Organisations (NTOS) to promote regional tourism.
A report by the Chair of the NTOS meeting held the previous day underlined the need for greater connectivity to link up more Asean cities and promote common destinations. 
“Some destinations/cities in Asean are lacking a decent air route to connect each other,” read the report presented at the ministerial meeting.
“Thus, strategic efforts to restore and enhance air connectivity shall be implemented to facilitate international and intra-Asean travel by establishing direct flights linking major and lesser-known Asean tourism destinations with primary, secondary and tertiary cities in Asean and potential markets.”
In this regard, the Asean tourism sector should strengthen collaboration with transport-related stakeholders, including the government and the private sector, it added.
In her address, Mrs Suanesavanh told her Asean counterparts that the meeting was a good opportunity for ministers to discuss the challenges, solutions and recommendations spelled out by the report.
The report also recommended the need to address the shortage of employees in the tourism industry, which has occurred because a significant number of staff were laid off during the pandemic when the tourism industry was hard hit.
“To address this issue, Asean should map out the current demand and supply of tourism professionals to identify the gaps,” the report suggested. It added that appropriate training, the latest knowledge, and investment in upgrading the skills of the tourism workforce should be undertaken and provided.
In addition, senior Asean tourism officials advised their ministers about the need for marketing adaptation in line with current and future trends towards responsible and sustainable tourism.
“Travellers now need to behave (more) responsibly to protect their health, as well as the health of other travellers and the local community,” the report stated.
An increasing number of global travellers have also expressed a preference for more sustainable travel in the future and expect more sustainable travel options from the industry, the report added.
The recommendations aim to forge improvements and meet the growing needs of the tourism industry as it experiences a continuing rebound in the post-pandemic era.
Asean tourism recovery in the first half of 2023 was considered modest at 66 percent, but a positive improvement on the 30 percent recovery rate in 2022.
The Asean tourism sector saw continued recovery during the rest of 2023 with strong demand for domestic travel as well as China’s reopening, which boosted overall tourist inflows in the region. By the end of 2023, international visitor arrivals to Asean recorded 153.09 percent growth from 2022.
The meeting also reviewed implementation of the Asean Tourism Strategic Plan for 2016-2025.

By Times Reporters
 (Latest Update January 26, 2024)