JOHOR BAHRU, Jan 19 — ASEAN tourism ministers met this morning to discuss strategies for boosting regional tourism with a strong emphasis on simplifying cross-border travel processes to allow for easier movement between member countries.
Tourism, Arts, and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing said tourism is a vital pillar of economic growth in the region, thus improving cross-border collaboration is essential for creating a competitive and accessible tourism environment.
“As I previously stated, we must simplify policies that will increase the number of tourists coming in. Of course, we cannot be tolerant on the security front but I believe this issue should be discussed further within our respective countries,” he said after chairing the 28th ASEAN tourism ministers’ meeting here today.
Meanwhile, on the scam tourism issue, Tiong urged ASEAN member countries to look at the issue seriously and find an amicable solution as it was a big issue faced by tourists in the region, even though it was not discussed in today’s meeting.
“We should look at this (scam tourism) seriously. We must capture (solve) this problem which the tourists have been facing now at the moment,” he said.
Today’s meeting was part of the highlight programme of the ASEAN Tourism Forum (ATF) 2025, which runs from Jan 15 to tomorrow.
The forum’s goal is to promote regional tourism products, facilitate knowledge exchange, foster valuable networking and improve collaboration with global tourism industry leaders in order to increase the number of tourists visiting ASEAN. — Bernama
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