ASEAN plans tourism campaign

ASEAN plans tourism campaign

BANGKOK (AP): The 10 member-states of the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations announced Sunday that they have agreed to
stage a joint tourism campaign next year.

The campaign will aim at painting the ASEAN region as a single
tourism destination, said a press statement issued at a meeting
of the group's tourism ministers.

The joint campaign will be officially launched in Brunei in
the year 2001, the statement said. Meanwhile, all the countries
will work together to figure out concrete marketing measures.

"This is a great region of 10 countries which have varied
kinds of things from food to exotic people. We have to work
together to help each other, to make countries in this area
compete less with each other and increase cooperation," said
Pehin Dato Abdul Rahman Taib, Brunei's minister of industry and
primary resources.

ASEAN comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia,
Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Tourism is a major revenue earner for the more-developed
countries among the group, such as Thailand and Singapore.