ATF2011 closed on January 21 for another year coming

The 30th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Tourism Forum (ATF2011) concluded on Friday evening with a closer co-operation among ASEAN countries and their dialogue partners, said Cambodian Tourism Minister Dr. Thong Khon at the closing ceremony in Phnom Penh.

"Our great achievement made in the forum this year is the adoption of the ASEAN tourism strategic plan for 2011-2015 aimed to turn ASEAN into a world class tourist destination by 2015," he told to more than 400 participants.

"Besides this, I hope that buyers and sellers have met their business partners for future co-operation," he said, adding that the forum also created a closer environment of co-operation among ASEAN countries and ASEAN with their dialogue partners including China, Japan, South Korea, India and Russia.

The 30th ASEAN Tourism Forum had kicked off on January 15 at the brand-new Sofitel Phnom Penh Phokeethra.

During the event, there had been a series of meetings of ASEAN National Tourism Organizations (NTOs), ASEAN tourism ministers + 3 (China, Japan and South Korea) and ASEAN tourism ministers plus India and Russia.

Also, there was the ASEAN Travel Exchange (TRAVEX) at Koh Pich with the participation of up to 1,000 sellers with 512 booths from hotels, airline companies, tour operators and travel agencies in ASEAN countries and some 466 buyers from ASEAN, Asia, Europe and the United States of America.

The 31st ATF will be held in Manado, North Sulawesi, Indonesia in January 2012. ASEAN consists of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam.
By Reinhard Hohler, Media Travel Consultant

ASEAN AIMS TO BECOME WORLD CLASS TOURISM DESTINATION

ASEAN Travel Forum 2011 hosted in Phnom Penh for the second time reconfirms that Southeast Asia is flying high again. Total number of arrivals to the geopolitical entity formed by ten countries (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam) topped last year 65 million arrivals, up 12% over 2009.

The growth is impressive as large parts of the world are still into recession. But ASEAN tourist movements were stimulated by a booming Chinese and Indian economy, high growth in markets such as India, South Korea and Taiwan as well as a strong economic recovery in most ASEAN countries. Australian travelers are also predicted to grow sharply in 2011 to the region as more flights are due to take-off during the first quarter of this year with new low fares available to Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. Another positive sign is the emergence of new intra-ASEAN markets countries like Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam as these countries have an increasing number of middle class travelers with purchasing power. ASEAN is now expected to reach the 100 million travelers mark by the end of the decade.

The 30th ASEAN Tourism Forum opened here on 15-21 January, aimed at promoting ASEAN as the world class tourist destination by 2015 and also to promote regional cooperation in tourism. The event under the theme of "ASEAN: A World of Wonders and Diversity" was attended by about 3,000 participants, who are government's top officials, ASEAN tourism ministers, tourism delegates from China, Japan, Korea, India and Russia, diplomatic corps, exhibitors, buyers and media from around the world.

Speaking during the ASEAN TOURISM FORUM 2011 opening ceremony, Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Hun Sen said “I am strongly convinced that ATF 2011 is an exceptional opportunity for us not only to inform the world of Cambodia’s as well as ASEAN’s tourism products, but also to enhance and show the importance of tourism and to continue to promote this field, so as to contribute to socio-economic development, the achievement of the UN Millennium Development Goals and the poverty reduction in the region and the world.

"ASEAN is seen as a captivating and highly competitive tourist destination for development, based on the uniqueness of its potentials and diversity of historical cultural relics and tremendous natural resources," the Prime Minister said. "I hope that all related stakeholders in public and private sectors will jointly cooperate to develop ASEAN tourism in order to fulfill ASEAN vision as the world class tourist destination by 2015."

The Cambodian government has been paying high attention and giving its full support to the development of tourism industry, considering it as a priority among the ten priority areas for social building and poverty reduction, underlined Samdech Hun Sen.

He further highly evaluated the effective contribution of tourism in increasing regional demands and exportation, the main factors to promote macroeconomic growth, social development and poverty alleviation.

According to preliminary figures, ASEAN attracted more than 65 million visitors last year, posting a healthy 12 percent growth. Intra-ASEAN travel continued to be a major share of tourists, making up 45 percent of total international arrivals.

For its part, Cambodia received some 2.5 million foreign tourists last year, or an increase of 16 percent as compared with 2009, while the number of local tourists reached more than 7 million in 2010, or an increase of 7 percent as compared with the previous year.

The ASEAN Tourism Forum (ATF 2011)’s target is to turn ASEAN into an attractive tourism destination and increase the competitiveness of the ASEAN tourism sector in the Asia Pacific region, said Cambodian Minister of Tourism, Dr. Thong Khon, in his opening speech at the ASEAN Tourism Forum.

Dr. Thong Khon said ATF 2011 aims to attract more tourists from ASEAN member countries and promote cooperation among ASEAN’s tourism sectors. ATF 2011 will also evaluate the real situation and potential for tourism cooperation among ASEAN nations and pinpoint opportunities and challenges for the tourism sector in Southeast Asia after the global financial crisis in order to attract more international tourists to the region.

During the event from Jan. 15-18, there had been a series of meetings of ASEAN tourism ministers, ASEAN tourism ministers plus 3 (China, Japan and South Korea) and ASEAN tourism ministers plus India and Russia. And from January 19-21, the ASEAN Travel Exchange held at Diamond Island Convention and Exhibition Center. "It was the biggest gathering--up to 1,500 sellers with 518 booths from 434 exhibiting companies like hotels, airline companies, tour operators and travel agencies of ASEAN countries and 466 buyers from ASEAN, Asia, Europe and the United States of America occupying an exhibition area of 8430 sqm," Cambodian Tourism Minister Thong Khon said.

International buyers with a keen interest to buy ASEAN destinations, products and services enjoyed doing so at ATF TRAVEX as the event presented the widest and most comprehensive selection of ASEAN travel choices – offered by small to large suppliers.

ATF 2011 also continued to be a widely publicized event by both trade and consumer media, with 148 media delegates from across 32 countries in attendance.


Highlights of the ASEAN TOURISM FORUM 2011

Direct Flights Between Yangon in Myanmar and Siem Reap in Cambodia Set for Takeoff

Direct flights between Cambodia and Myanmar will start next month, Minister of Tourism Thong Khon said. A twice-weekly service from Siem Reap to Yangon, to be operated by Myanmar Airways International, will start on February 23, he said after a signing ceremony during ASEAN Tourism

Direct flights were “about [creating] connectivity among ASEAN members to boost ASEAN tourism”, he said. Thong Khon and his Myanmar counterpart Soe Naing signed the agreement to officially launch the route.

The direct service brings closer two of ASEAN’s most veritable heritage sites, Bagan in Myanmar and Angkor Wat in Cambodia.

The two nations began exploring direct flights in 2007, and Prime Minister Hun Sen and Myanmar Prime Minister U Thein Sein discussed the possibility of beginning direct flights at a Phnom Penh summit in November last year. Say Sokhan, civil aviation adviser to the Council of Ministers, said he welcomed the establishment of direct flights to Myanmar.

“This is the first time for both countries,” he said, expressing hopes the route would help both nations boost tourism. Cambodia received 2,614 visitors in 2010 who claimed Myanmar as their country of residence, according to Ministry of Tourism statistics.

Officials also requested that Russia and Japan begin regular direct flights to the Kingdom during the ASEAN Tourism Forum. “We are hopeful that if we have direct flights with Russia and Japan, tourists will increasingly come to our country,” said Thong Khon.


ASEAN Firs Five Year Tourism Roadmap and Regional Strategic Plan

Tourism ministers from the 10-nation ASEAN bloc endorsed a regional strategic plan for the sector during a meeting in prime minister Hun Sen's Phnom Penh office. The plan, which runs from 2011 to 2015, is intended to boost regional cooperation to ensure tourism growth within ASEAN, South Korea, China and Japan.

ASEAN’S first five-year tourism roadmap is taking off with a leaner and more integrated structure aimed at achieving the blueprint’s 86.7 million arrivals goal by 2015.

The ASEAN NTOs’ structure has been flattened to three working groups and two committees, from six taskforces and a committee previously. Many ASEAN NTOs interviewed at ATF 2011 said the previous taskforces had overlapping mandates and activities, reducing their effectiveness.

Under the new structure, the three working groups are product development headed by Malaysia, marketing and communications led by Thailand and quality led by the Philippines. Brunei is heading a budget and integration committee while Indonesia heads a tourism professional monitoring committee.

“We are convinced that, with close cooperation among the ASEAN nations and dialogue partners, we will be productive and the plan will be beneficial to all the members,” Cambodia’s Minister of Tourism Thong Khon, who chaired the meeting. As part of the strategy plan, he said, ASEAN members must strengthen tourism promotion and push development.

Mr. So Mara, Secretary of state of the Ministry of Tourism, added that the expansion and strengthening of tourism services could pave the way for better travel facilitation and connectivity in the region, “We must reaffirm our commitments for sustained ASEAN tourism cooperation. “The world has started recovering from the global economic downturn. We need to sustain ASEAN’s fame as the fastest growing tourism destination in the world.”

Mr. Tith Chantha, Director General of the Ministry of Tourism, added that the region has the “most potential” of any destination in the world, but cooperation was necessary for development.


China, Japan, S Korea Support ASEAN's Tourism Plan

China, Japan and South Korea pledged to support ASEAN's five-year tourism strategic plan, said a joint media statement during the 10th ASEAN and China, Japan and South Korea (ASEAN+3) tourism ministerial meeting. "The ministers from China, Japan and South Korea expressed their strong support for and willingness to provide assistance to ASEAN to successfully implement the ASEAN tourism strategic plan 2011-2015," read the statement.

The support was made after the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) tourism ministers endorsed the strategic plan in the meeting of ASEAN tourism ministers. According to the statement, the strategic plan is to promote intra-ASEAN tourism marketing, to develop tourism products, to improve quality tourism, to build human resources development, and to attract investments for the sector.

"The three countries' support is very significant to achieve the strategic goal by 2015," Cambodian Tourism Minister Thong Khon said.

According to the joint-statement, despite economic slowdown in 2009 and 2010, tourist arrivals of ASEAN+3 countries in 2010 remained resilient with more than 101 million arrivals, which is 14 percent growth compared to 2009. Of the figure, ASEAN countries attracted 65 million visitors, up 12 percent, with more than 10 million originating from China, Japan and South Korea.


ASEAN Travel Agents Gives Priority Towards Human Resource Development

THE FEDERATION of ASEAN Travel Association (FATA) has earmarked human resource development as one of its key priorities this year to nip the problem of staff poaching in the bud.

FATA president William Tan said: “Everyone of us (FATA members) is facing a shortage of trained staff. As a result, poaching is rampant.”

To tackle this, Tan said a request for funds had been submitted to the ASEAN Secretariat. “Once the request is approved, we will establish an online training portal that will list all available training courses that travel agencies can apply for. A committee will also be formed (to lead this initiative).”

Courses would be conducted in each ASEAN country and experienced industry practitioners would lead the lessons, said Tan.


ASEAN Countries Showing Interest Towards Russian Market

RUSSIAN outbound feed to the ASEAN region grew to 562,000 last year, from 458,000 in 2009, with Thailand receiving the bulk of Russian travelers, said Valery Korovkin, head, international department of Russia’s Federal Agency for Tourism.

After a meeting between ASEAN NTOs and Russia at ATF 2011, Thailand’s Ministry of Tourism and Sports deputy permanent secretary Thanitta Maneechote said Russian arrivals to Thailand in 2010 leapt almost 100 per cent over 2009.

“Pattaya was the hot favourite for Russian tourists, but last year saw Phuket rising in popularity too. In fact, the Russian market became Phuket’s biggest source market, overtaking Scandinavia,” Thanitta said. “Seventy per cent of Russian tourists to Thailand are repeats. Many have been to Pattaya, so they are looking at other resort destinations in Thailand.”

Singapore Tourism Board senior director, international group, Kevin Leong, said Russian arrivals to Singapore also saw growth, although this was “modest compared to what Thailand saw”. The city-state had 7.9 per cent more Russian tourists between January and November 2010, compared to the same period in 2009.


First-Ever Air Link Creates India Breakthrough for the Philippines

The Philippines effort to nab a share of the Indian market, long stymied by an absence of air connectivity, is enjoying a turnaround as Indian buyers gear up for new six-weekly flights between Delhi and Manila.

Philippine Airlines will commence thrice-weekly direct services on March 27, to be followed the next day with three weekly Delhi-Manila services via Bangkok. The carrier will deploy an Airbus A320 with a passenger capacity of 302.

Mr. Arjun from Shroff International Travel Care from Philippines said this is a very positive growth between Philippines and Indian Tourism skies. He sees the tremendous growth between the two tourism giants and potential outbound tourism in the coming years. He also added, “Indian outbound tourism is growing so huge and it’s the best of the opportunity to catch at the right time and get the best of it.”

ASEAN Plans to Boost Cruise Tourism

Cruise tourism, encompassing incentive and other MICE sectors as well as the middle to upmarket leisure market, is on the increase in ASEAN waters. More foreign-flagged ships are evident in the region, both marquee and second-tier ports are looking to enhancements and national tourist offices are determined to seize the opportunity to take things a big step further.

In conjunction with ASEAN Tourism Forum 2011, the region’s tourism ministers gave a thumbs-up to NTO discussions which cover the feasibility of increased collaboration on cruise tourism. This is likely to see more collective promotion, as well as regional consultation on improving facilities, lobbying ship operators and developing more shore-based activities, including open-jaw sectors.

The Regional tourism ministers confirmed that the ASEAN Cruise Working Group would co-locate individual country booths at several major international cruise trade shows. This strategy will kick off at Cruise Shipping Miami 2011 (March 14-17), while other key collaborative events will include Cruise Shipping Asia 2011 in November.

The ministers noted that Southeast Asia held great potential for cruise tourism, saying that the joint marketing efforts would strengthen the region’s share of mind among key decision-makers in the cruise industry. Singapore is one port to have recorded a significant increase in foreign cruise visits and is expecting to build on this in the next Asian cruise season when AIDA Cruises begins using a larger 2500 passenger vessel, ‘AIDAdiva’, in the region.

Current AIDA Cruises vessels have contributed heavily to the recent increase in regional cruise business, as have ships operated by Hapag Lloyd, P&O and Compagnie du Ponant. Among other operators active in ASEAN waters are Cunard and Silversea.


The next ATF will take place from 9 to 15 January 2012 in Manado, in the Province of North Sulawesi in Indonesia.

Mysterious Mekong-A journey through the heart of Indochina

An exhibition of photographs by Reinhard Hohler will be on display at the brand-new SOFITEL PHNOM PENH PHOKEETHRA, starting on Saturday, January 15, 2011. The unique collection of photos is featuring the Mekong River, the longest river in Southeast Asia, which is more and more threatened by dam buildings and industrial development schemes.

Through his photographs, Reinhard Hohler attempts to give the visitor an in-depth perspective on the different geographical, historical and economic aspects of the Mekong River, which runs through the heart of Indo-China. The river should be protected accordingly.

The 72 photographs highlight the landscapes and scenery seen during an expedition in November 2002, which started in Xishuangbanna, Yunnan/China, passing through Myanmar, Laos, Thailand and Cambodia, before ending in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The exhibition includes photos marking the group’s visit to the gravesite of the famous French explorer Henri Mouhot in Luang Prabang, the transfer of the group’s hovercraft around the scenic Khon Falls on the Lao-Cambodia border as well as a side trip to the ruins of Angkor. When the expedition had finally arrived in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam, there was the first continuous navigation of the Mekong River successfully completed.

Reinhard Hohler, 60, is an experienced tour director and media travel consultant in the Greater Mekong Sub-region. He was born in Karlsruhe/Germany, a port on Europe’s Rhine River. After studying geology in his hometown and ethnology, geography and political science at Heidelberg University, Reinhard Hohler moved to Thailand and lives in Chiang Mai since 1987.

The venue SOFITEL PHNOM PENH PHOKEETHRA is a 12-storey colonial French style hotel and occupies 12 hectares in a prime, riverside location, near the British International School and amidst a burgeoning neighborhood of upscale villas.

The 5-star hotel is located just downstream of Phnom Penh’s Royal Palace and introduces nine new restaurants and bars to the city. Also, it houses Asia’s first, Sofitel-branded So Spa, Asia’s first purpose-built executive club, Club Millesime, and an impressive 1,800-square meter ballroom.
Its fitness club, the Phokeethra Sports Complex, features tennis courts and squash courts as well as an outdoor swimming pool, a kid’s club, and fitness equipment.

For more information, please contact Area General Manager
Mr. Didier Lamoot, Sofitel Phnom Penh Phokeethra by phone +855 23 999 200, Fax: +855 23 999 211, Mobile: +855 12 980 011 or e-mail: DIDIER.LAMOOT@SOFITEL.COM

Mr. Reinhard Hohler at sara@cmnet.co.th