Heads of delegations of ASEAN member states to the event pose for a group photo (Photo: VNA)

On 2nd February, in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, the 57th meeting of the ASEAN National Tourism Organisations took place, opening up the ASEAN Tourism Forum (ATF 2023) event. Mr. Ha Van Sieu, Vice Chairman of Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) leads the Vietnam delegation along with leaders of relevant Departments under VNAT attended the meeting.

Addressing the event, Sieu said member countries’ tourism reopening last year signified a strong recovery of the sector. Vietnam welcomed 3.5 million international visitors in 2022, with ASEAN named the country’s leading tourist market in terms of recovery speed, he added.

The official affirmed that Vietnam always welcomes proposals from ASEAN member states to learn, share and explore the potential for further cooperation in the field of festival tourism.

In the second half of this year, Vietnam plans to organise a regional conference on festival tourism, he unveiled.

The conference focused on reviewing reports of the bloc’s four tourism cooperation committees, and approving a number of documents including the final drafts of standards and toolkit for the MICE (Meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) and event organisation professions, among others.

VNAT’s Vice Chairman Ha Van Sieu leads the Vietnam delegation attending the meeting (Photo: TITC)

The meeting focused on reviewing reports of ASEAN Tourism cooperation committees including: ASEAN Tourism Competitiveness Committee, ASEAN Sustainable and Inclusive Tourism Development Committee, ASEAN Tourism Professional Monitoring Committee, and ASEAN Tourism Resourcing and Monitoring and Evaluation Committee. At the same time, the meeting considers and approves/finalises a number of documents, including: Final Draft of the Standards for the MICE Professions; Final Draft of the Standards for the Event Industry; Final Draft of the updated Code of Conduct for Hospitality and Travel Services.

In 2022, ASEAN carried out outstanding tourism activities. Namely: The Phnom Penh Declaration Towards ASEAN Tourism Transformation was adopted by the Senior Leaders at the 40th ASEAN Summit held in Cambodia in November 2022.

ASEAN collaborated with the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA) to draft and finalise two reports: (1) Comprehensive study on the ASEAN Mutual Recognition Agreement on Tourism Professions (MRA-TP): Advanced mechanism for tourism workers; (2) Research and develop a framework for sustainable tourism development in ASEAN in the post-Covid-19 era. These are two documents approved by ASEAN Tourism Ministers and included in the list of Priority Economic Documents (PEDs) under the ASEAN Chair of Cambodia in 2022.

The tourism sector of the region continues to actively implement the ASEAN Tourism Marketing Strategy 2021-2025, especially via social networking sites; Implement the ASEAN Tourism Strategy 2016-2025 and the Post-Covid-19 Recovery Plan. By the end of 2022, 40/68 activities under the Strategy have been implemented, 27/45 activities under the Recovery Plan have been implemented; Along with the launching of the Intra-ASEAN Tourism Recovery Campaign funded by the Government of Canada from December 2022, expected to be implemented in 2023, according to the Vietnamtourismevironment.

ASEAN member countries proposed and discussed 06 new projects in 2023, including: (1) Supporting the ASEAN Secretariat; (2) Develop a Cruise Tourism Work Plan; (3) Organising a training course on Safety and Hygiene for the Community and Tourism Workers; (4) Marketing activities for ASEAN; (5) Implementation of the ASEAN Self-Driving Car Tourism project; (6) Develop ASEAN Sustainable Tourism Development Toolkit.

Additionally, many activities and events were organised and co-organised several face-to-face workshops post the opening: Workshop on Initiatives and guidance on the participation of the local community and the private sector in tourism development in Vietnam; Workshop on MICE Facility Standards in Thailand, Workshop on Hotel Waste Management in Malaysia, Workshop on Community Tourism in Cambodia, Workshop on Ecotourism in Thailand.

Overview of the meeting (Photo: TITC)

In the second half of this year, Viet Nam plans to organise a regional workshop on Festival Tourism, VNAT’s Vice Chairman Ha Van Sieu informed. Vietnam welcomes the recommendations from other ASEAN Member States to explore further potential cooperation for festival tourism as well as expect participation in the upcoming workshop, which details will be distributed later.

Vietnamese delegation attending the meeting (Photo: TITC)

Participants also discussed preparations for a series of functions such as the 26th ASEAN Tourism Ministers’ Meeting; the 42nd ASEAN 3 NTO meeting; and the 22nd ASEAN 3 Tourism Ministers’ Meeting.

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