ASEAN sets itself as a tourist destination

ASEAN sets itself as a tourist destination

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN (AFP): The Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN) on Saturday launched an international campaign to
market the 10-nation region as a tourism destination.

Tourism ministers from the politically and economically
diverse ASEAN group said at a meeting in the Brunei capital that
the campaign will highlight the diversity of the region's
cultures and attractions.

"We have exotic cultures and offer value for money. This is a
concerted effort to promote the region," Sheikh Jamaluddin,
director general of Brunei's tourism development department told
AFP.

"We basically want to tell the world to come to our region."
The Visit Asia Campaign, or VAC as it is to be known, will
include ASEAN participation at international travel fairs this
year, such as the World Travel Market in London and the
International Tourism Exchange in Berlin.

Promotional activities at the fairs will allow ASEAN to reach
a wider audience, the ministers said in a statement.

Tourism in Southeast Asia has been hampered by negative images
of some ASEAN countries such as Indonesia with ethnic and
religious unrest, the Philippines and its kidnappings, Myanmar
where the military junta is accused of political oppression,
forced labor and killing members of ethnic minorities, and drug
and HIV problems in Thailand,

ASEAN also includes Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia,
Singapore, Vietnam.