The Opening Ceremony of the 35th ASEAN Tourism Forum was held in Manila, the Philippines on 20 January 2016. Tourism Ministers of ASEAN Member States, China, Japan, Korea, India and Russia as well as Secretary-Generals of ASEAN Secretariat, ASEAN-Japan Centre and ASEAN-Korea Centre, as well as leaders of international tourism organizations such as UNWTO, WTTC and PATA were present. Secretary-General of ASEAN-China Centre (ACC) H.E. Mme. Yang Xiuping attended the Opening Ceremony and conversed with other dignitaries.
President of the Philippines H.E. Benigno Simeon Aquino III delivered the keynote speech. He expressed that the Philippines enjoyed rich tourism resources. In the past few years, the Philippine tourism industry remained a good momentum for development and played an important role in its national economy. The recent establishment of ASEAN Community had laid a solid foundation for common prosperity and development of ASEAN. The growth in the tourism sector would contribute to the development of related economic industries and provide employment opportunities for the local communities. The President added that the Philippines was committed to exploring its tourism potentials and strengthening its connectivity by developing infrastructures to support and improve the tourism environment, hence, upgrade the level of service. He hoped that ASEAN Member States could promote a model to support the development of sustainable and environmentally friendly tourism products, such as eco-tourism, to benefit the local people and maintain a steady growth of ASEAN tourism.
This year’s ATF theme was “ASEAN-One Community with Sustainability”, which reflected the importance of tourism in maintaining a sustainable and healthy develoment of ASEAN Economic Community.
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