EATOF vows to boost tourism

YOGYAKARTA (JP): Eight provinces out of nine East Asia Inter- Regional Tourism Forum (EATOF) founding members issued a joint declaration here on Monday stating their intention to empower East Asian tourism by strengthening multilateral relations among EATOF members.

In their joint declaration, the provinces of Gangwon (Korea), Cebu (Philippines), Tuv Aimag (Mongolia), Chiang Mai (Thailand), Tottori Prefecture (Japan), Jilin (China), Yogyakarta (Indonesia) and Sarawak (Malaysia) agreed to hold a regular annual meeting to deepen relations among them.

Another founding province, Primorsky (Russia), could not send its delegation due to internal matters.

"We encourage those member provinces that were unable to participate in this year's EATOF General Assembly to make every effort to attend future General Assemblies," the statement said.

The statement, which was read out by Yogyakarta governor Sultan Hamengkubuwono X, mentioned that EATOF's member provinces would work together throughout the year to encourage trade, tourism and investment among the group.

"In addition, local authorities shall seek ways to support and promote exchange programs among universities or private tourism sectors," the sultan said.

He said the first stage of the project could be implemented by establishing bilateral relationships among institutions.

"It can be developed in the form of organizing a consortium among universities or private tourism sectors," he added.

The participants also agreed to establish an EATOF promotion booth that will be operate at international travel marts wherever possible to promote joint marketing of the province members.

The conference was attended by some 60 participants and 200 other tourism stakeholders. Around 70 institutions, including government offices and tourism stakeholders, participated in the EATOF travel mart held at the Hyatt Regency Yogyakarta.

EATOF was established in a meeting hosted by Korea's Gangwon province in September 2000. The nine participating provinces were recognized as EATOF founders. (23)