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Thursday, October 19, 2006

DEVELOPMENTS - APEC countries meet to boost tourism

eTN Asia, 10-18-06

Asia-Pacific tourism ministers and officials from the 21 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) member countries have concluded their two-day meeting in Hoi An, Vietnam. The aim for the meeting was to boost tourism growth among member countries, ahead of an APEC summit which is to be held in Hanoi next month.

In addition to taking summit delegates on a tour of its ancient town of Hoi An and My Son Sanctuary, both UNESCO world cultural heritage sites, Hoi An also hosted an APEC Tourism Fair, attracting visitors to some 100 pavilions.

Tourism ministers from the Pacific Rim countries met to discuss how to boost growth and investments, at the same time remove barriers in the tourism industry.

"Tourism is a very important industry for the APEC region," said secretariat spokesman Christopher Hawkins. "It covers many areas on the APEC agenda, from small business and transportation to counter-terrorism and emergency preparedness."

Matters discussed included raising airport capacity, reaching open-skies agreements to boost air travel, and ways to increase cooperation between the public and private sectors.

Vietnam's national tourism administration also proposed the setting up of an APEC Investment Forum to attract capital from investors interested in the tourism industry, in addition to rotating hosting of the annual APEC Tourism Fair.

The World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) has estimated that the tourism industry now employs over 100 million people in the APEC countries, with 30 million more jobs expected by 2010 when the industry will be worth over US$3 trillion dollars a year.

Despite facing natural and man-made disasters such as the Bali bombings, earthquakes, 2004 tsunami wave attacks, SARS and bird flu pandemic outbreaks and annual haze from forest fires, the growth of tourism in the Asia-Pacific region has not stopped.

"The industry has shown tremendous resilience to make significant strides and meet demands," said Vo Thi Thang, chairwoman of Vietnam National Tourism Administration. "Tourism has contributed significantly to APEC countries' economic development, helping to reduce poverty and provide job opportunities."

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