ACC Attended ASEAN Tourism Forum 2014

2014 ASEAN Tourism Forum (ATF) took place in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia from Jan. 16-23, 2014. At the invitation by the Ministry of Tourism & Culture Malaysia, H.E. Mr. MA Mingqiang, Secretary-General of ACC led a delegation to attend ATF, the 17th Meeting of ASEAN Tourism Ministers (17th M-ATM), and the 39th Meeting of the ASEAN National Organizations (39th ASEAN NTOs). During the 17th M-ATM, Mr. MA briefed the Tourism Ministers of ASEAN on ACC’s works in facilitating tourism cooperation between ASEAN and China over the past one year and work plan for 2014. Mr. MA pointed out that the two-way travel between ASEAN and China increased significantly in 2013, with a total of 12.3 million first-stop visitations made by mainland Chinese travelers to ASEAN, an increase of 26.6%. By integrating resources from various stakeholders, ACC shot 10 tourism documentaries for 5 ASEAN Member States, hosted multi-media art exhibitions and ASEAN cultural nights, organized online photo competition. ACC also developed mobile route guide APP for self-driving travelers, Chinese and ASEAN languages translation APP for mobile between Chinese & ASEAN languages. The ASEAN Tourism Ministers appreciated the work of ACC in promoting ASEAN in China and facilitating ASEAN-China tourism cooperation. 

During the ATF, Mr. MA also met with YB Dato' Seri Mohamed Nazri, Malaysian Minister of Tourism and Culture; H.E. Mari Pangestu, Indonesian Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy; H.E, U Htay Aung, Union Minister of Hotel and Tourism, the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; H.E. Chaleune WARINTHRASAK, Vice Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism, Lao PDR. Mr. MA said, ACC’s efforts to promote ASEAN tourism in China is very much awarding, including TV documentaries, facilitation services for travelers, and coordination among the stake holder like aviation, travel agent and media. Based on these achievements, ACC hopes to undertake more projects to further strengthen tourism cooperation between ASEAN and China. The Tourism Ministers expressed their gratitudes to ACC for its work, and their willingness to cooperate with ACC in future. 

2014 ATF was organized by ASEAN Secretariat, hosted by the Ministry of Tourism and Culture Malaysia. 2015 ATF will take place from Jan. 22-29, 2015 in Myanmar.