Southeast Asian tourism chiefs discuss post-pandemic recovery
H. E Thong Khon, Minister of Tourism of the Kingdom of Cambodia
Cambodia’s Tourism Ministry has been holding talks with its Southeast Asian counterparts to come up with a combined approach to reviving an industry that has been decimated by Coronavirus lockdowns and travel restrictions.
Senior officials from the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations joined the 54th ASEAN National Tourism Organisations meeting, which was held via video conference on Wednesday.
Thong Rathasak, director-general of the Ministry of Tourism’s Tourism Development and International Cooperation General Department, chaired the virtual meeting.
Delegates discussed ways of reopening the tourism industry, including guidelines on hygiene and ensuring the safety of workers and communities. They also came up with policies and recommendations for a post-pandemic recovery and discussed the Phnom Penh Declaration, which is an action plan for more sustainable, inclusive and resilient ASEAN tourism that was adopted in February this year.
Along with talks about short-term steps, the meeting looked at ASEAN’s five-year Tourism Marketing Strategy and the Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity 2025 for the implementation of the Enhanced ASEAN Tourism Digital Platforms.
The meeting was followed by two other virtual meetings, yesterday, the ASEAN+3 National Senior Tourism Officials Meeting and the ASEAN+3+India National Senior Tourism Officials Meeting.
Last year, Cambodia received only 1.31 million foreign tourists, 80 percent lower than 2019. Foreign arrivals to Cambodia fell by almost 93 percent Jan-April of this year from the same period last year, according to the Tourism Ministry. It has been working with the Health Ministry on a plan to allow fully vaccinated tourists to visit starting in the fourth quarter of this year.
Thailand has begun reopening to foreign tourists with the so-called Phuket Sandbox scheme, which allows visitors to go anywhere on the island without having to quarantine.
Indonesia was hoping to take a similar approach on Bali but suspended the plan because of a surge in Coronavirus cases on the island.
