Russia is an important tourism market of ASEAN: official

The Vietnamese delegation at the 2nd ASEAN-Russia Tourism Ministers Meeting in Indonesia. (Photo: Vietnam National Administration of Tourism)

Jakarta (VNA) – Russia is an important tourism market of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and had always been a leading source of tourists of Vietnam before the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Doan Van Viet has said.

He made the remarks at the 2nd ASEAN-Russia Tourism Ministers Meeting, which was held in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, within the framework of the 2023 ASEAN Tourism Forum (ATF 2023).

The upgrade of the meeting between ASEAN and Russia from the Tourism Consultation to the Ministers Meeting from 2022 is a solid foundation to further foster cooperation between the two sides in the coming time, Viet noted.

The deputy minister said that the Tourism Work Plan for the 2022-2024 period, which was approved by the first ASEAN-Russia Tourism Ministers' Meeting, paved the way for cooperation activities on promoting, training human resources as well as ensuring safe tourism and connection between the two sides. Therefore, to effectively implement the plan, it is necessary for the two sides to enhance linkages and regular exchanges from working groups to reach consensus on priority activities and find suitable resources for the implementation of joint projects and activities, he said.

According to the official, in the future, it is essential to strengthen collaboration activities to promote digital advertising to the Russian market, spread the image of ASEAN tourism in Russia, and continuing to organise Russian language training courses for tourism workers and tour guides of the ASEAN region.

He also suggested intensifying engagement in tourism activities of ASEAN in general and Vietnam in particular in 2023, such as the Vietnam International Travel Mart (VITM) in Hanoi and the International Travel Expo in Ho Chi Minh City.

The second ASEAN-Russia Tourism Ministers Meeting was chaired by Indonesian Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Sandiaga Salahuddin Uno and Russian Deputy Minister of Economic Development Vladimir Ilyichev.

At the event, the two sides noted that Southeast Asia is still a favourite destination for Russian tourists despite the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, and wished to increase the number of visitors between ASEAN and Russia in the post-pandemic period, contributing to speeding up tourism recovery of both sides.

The meeting emphasised the importance of promoting sustainable and inclusive tourism between ASEAN and Russia under the ASEAN-Russia Tourism Work Plan for 2022-2024; welcomed the activities identified in the recently adopted ASEAN Sustainable Tourism Development Framework.

Delegates highlighted a number of tourism-related outcomes achieved at the 17th East Asia Summit (EAS) on November 13, 2022, as well as the role of tourism as one of the major contributors to economic growth, employment, social welfare and livelihoods of local communities. Specifically, the two sides will focus on implementing the EAS Leaders' Declaration on Economic Growth Through Tourism Recovery, adopted at the 16th EAS on October 27, 2021, and exploring the possibility of starting a dialogue on tourism between relevant agencies.

The meeting discussed measures to strengthen efforts to carry out programmes and activities under the ASEAN-Russia Tourism Work Plan for 2022-2024, with greater emphasis on ensuring safety and comfort for tourists as well as facilitating the movement of tourist flows between Russia and ASEAN countries.

The event reaffirmed its commitment to implementing the agreed activities and tasked the ASEAN National Tourism Authorities and senior Russian officials with promoting the implementation of the work plan and enhancing cooperation between the two sides.

Participants agreed that the global tourism outlook will be positive in 2023 and the following years, and affirmed that digitalisation is one of the strategic priorities of the ASEAN Economic Community in 2023./.