An overview of the meeting VNA/VNS Photo

VIENTIANE Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyễn Văn Hùng has suggested the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries to strengthen connection and support ASEAN centres in China, Japan, and the Republic of Korea (RoK) in tourism promotional activities.

He made the suggestion at the 23rd Meeting of ASEAN Plus Three Tourism Ministers on January 26, within the framework of the ASEAN Tourism Forum 2024 (ATF) which is taking place in Vientiane, Laos.  

The minister also urged ASEAN members to jointly participate in exhibitions in the three partner countries and contribute to making the ASEAN tourism booth more lively by providing publications and display items and sending delegations to the events to introduce their culture, art, cuisine, and craft villages.

Việt Nam stands ready to work closely with other member states to implement tourism cooperation plans between ASEAN and the three partner countries to boost the effectiveness of their cooperation, Hùng said.

The Vietnamese official emphasised that the three partner countries are key tourism markets of not only ASEAN countries but also Việt Nam. In 2023, the country welcomed nearly six million visitor arrivals from the three countries, accounting for 47% of total foreign arrivals, he continued.

Preliminary figures in 2023 showed that ASEAN Plus Three countries attracted over 147 million visitors last year.

The meeting expressed optimism that the tourism sector would continue to recover as demand for travel continues to grow.

Participants exchanged views and information on the development of their respective tourism sector in the past year. They noted that 24 activities or 61.5% of items in the ASEAN Plus Three (APT) Tourism Cooperation Work Plan 2021-2025 have been implemented.

The meeting emphasised the importance of upskilling and reskilling the tourism workforce, thereby, expressing appreciation to the ASEAN Plus Three partner countries for their continued commitment in advancing the skills and knowledge of ASEAN tourism professionals through various training programmes and activities.

Within the framework of ASEAN-China tourism cooperation, the meeting highly appreciated China's support for ASEAN-China tourism cooperation activities, noting that in 2023, China organised three events, namely the China-ASEAN Tourism Expo 2023, the 2023 China International Travel Mart and the China-ASEAN Tourism Human Resources Training Programme.

The meeting also appreciated Japan for organising the ASEAN-Japan Tourism Ministers' Special Dialogue in October 2023 and the country's support for tourism cooperation activities between ASEAN member countries and Japan.

ASEAN and Japan were encouraged to enhance further cooperation in the tourism sector and implement initiatives to promote sustainable tourism including sharing best practices, and advancing mutual exchange of visitors, based on the joint media statement adopted at the Special Dialogue.

The meeting hailed the RoK for its continued support of ASEAN-RoK tourism cooperation activities through the Korea Partnership Initiative for Sustainable Tourism (KOPIST) Programme. It encouraged ASEAN and the RoK to discuss ways to enhance cooperation with a focus on activities to support sustainable tourism. VNA/VNS