VOV.VN - Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyen Van Hung has suggested that ASEAN member states should seek to enhance connections and work to support ASEAN centres in China, Japan, and the Republic of Korea (RoK) for the purpose of tourism promotional activities.

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

The Minister also urged ASEAN members to jointly engage in exhibitions in the three partner countries whilst contributing to making the ASEAN tourism booth more lively by providing publications and displaying items and sending delegations to the events to introduce their culture, art, cuisine, and craft villages.

The nation therefore stands ready to work alongside other member states to implement tourism co-operation plans between ASEAN and the three partner countries as a means of boosting the effectiveness of their co-operation, Minister Hung said.

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

Preliminary figures from 2023 indicate 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 regarding the development of their respective tourism sector over 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 underlined 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 co-operation, the meeting highly appreciated Chinese support for ASEAN-China tourism co-operation activities, noting that in 2023 China held 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 was also appreciative of Japan for organising the ASEAN-Japan Tourism Ministers' Special Dialogue in October, 2023, and the country's support for tourism co-operation activities between ASEAN member countries and Japan.

ASEAN and Japan were incentivized to augment further collaboration in the tourism sector and implement initiatives aimed at promoting 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 applauded the RoK for its continued support of ASEAN-RoK tourism cooperation activities through the Korea Partnership Initiative for Sustainable Tourism (KOPIST) Programme. It also encouraged both the bloc and the RoK to discuss ways in which to ramp up linkages, with a particular focus on activities to support sustainable tourism moving forward.