ASEAN Tourism Forum 2007 opens in Singapore

ASEAN Tourism Forum 2007 opens in Singapore

January 26, 2007


Singapore is now hosting the ASEAN Tourism Forum or ATF.

It is a showcase by members of ASEAN to promote the region as a single
tourist destination to the world.

ASEAN Tourism Ministers, Heads of National Tourism Organisations and
industry players are attending the forum.

The travel mart, TRAVEX and the ASEAN Tourism Conference will also run
at the same time.

Benjamin Yap is the Project Manager of SingEx Exhibitions, which is a
participant at the Forum. He tells Loretta Foo what's expected to be on
the agenda.

BY: Definitely with the onset of better infrastructure, this will help
connect the second tier countries to the rest of the world. So, better
infrastructure, easier mobility between countries. These are items on
the agenda that are very important to have travel into Asia extended.

One of the aims of the ATF is to promote intra-ASEAN travel and in line
with that, the idea of visa-free travel within ASEAN had been mooted
but has yet to come to fruition. Why has there been little progress
with this idea?

BY: In my opinion, the reason for this is quite simple, it is because
each country has its own requirements and regulations in terms of
travel restrictions. So this is a red tape which we see is a big
problem that has been there for quite a long time. Again, this is
something that the ministerial levels have to work out. On our part, we
would like to see things move as fast as possible because being in the
travel trade, with easier visa regulations, that would definitely
increase travel between countries and that would definitely increase
ASEAN intra-travel.

In what ways has Singapore benefited from the ATF so far?

BY: ATF is a travelling show. Basically, this is a showcase for
Singapore to show what it has to offer in terms of tourism. Likewise,
we are doing Resorts Asia, and why we are participating in ATF is
because we want to showcase what Singapore has to offer as a resort
destination.

The tourism industries of the second tier ASEAN countries are not as
developed as the first tier countries. How will the ATF help countries
like that bridge the gap?

BY: ATF again, under the TRAVEX portion has got a trade platform where
the regional trade tourism office (NTOs) are showcasing their unique
offerings. So this is a platform where international buyers get to see
what is being offered in ASEAN. We are also doing Resort Asia because
we want to try to target trade visitors from Australia, China, Europe,
more to New Zealand and Russia and the USA. These are definite buyers
we want to attract to Asia and coming into Singapore, in terms of
resort offerings and tourism offerings.

With regards to the second tier ASEAN countries, how can the first tier
countries like Singapore for example, help to develop their tourism
industries?

BY: Singapore as a bridging gap, as a hub for visitors to connect to
the second tier countries would be an ideal platform. Singapore has
always been promoted as a regional hub, so we can look at Singapore as
a springboard for international visitors coming to this region, coming
to first-tier countries like Singapore and Malaysia then to second-tier
countries like Cambodia and Laos which have unique, exotic offerings.

Now that the ATF is in its 26th year, how effective has the ATF been so
far in promoting tourism in ASEAN?

BY: I can tell you as a participant that the ATF has been doing a very
good job, they have attracted great buyers. In fact, this year, they
have attracted over 1400 buyers from 50 countries and these are the
people that I would like to see coming to our show too at Resort Asia.

Benjamin Yap, the Project Manager of SingEx Exhibitions speaking with
Loretta Foo

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