ASEAN NTOs double budget

ASEAN national tourist offices have agreed to double their country contributions to fund regional tourism promotions from US$10,000 to US$20,000 and ask for an additional US$23,000 budget to underwrite an international promotional campaign.The decisions were made during the 34th ASEAN National Tourism Organisations meeting held in Luang Prabang, Laos, late last month.

Tourism representatives of the 10-member countries agreed to back the USAID designed campaign Visit Southeast Asia Feel the Warmth that was launched in 2009.They will ask for a US$23,000 additional budget to support the campaign based around a website and related promotions geared to building consumer awareness.

Originally, USAIDandnbsp; funded, designed and launched the campaign anchored to a consumer website that included a booking engine. However, funding ended abruptly in August, 2010, over concerns voiced in Washington that booking engine features may have been used to drive commercial business to Myanmar.

Also at the Luang Prabang meeting tourism representatives agreed to increase their annual contribution to an ASEAN tourism marketing budget from the current US$10,000 to US$ 20,000 per member for the period 2012 to 2015. It will give the region a base fund of US$200,000 in 2012 to run a tourism office, provide collateral and fund promotions.

Based on ASEAN community principles, members are required to pay equal contributions to to support annual joint tourism projects, rather than scaling the contributions to the value of tourism for each member country.In related decisions, Thailand was selected as the marketing and communication coordinator for ASEAN's strategy on tourism.

The Ministry of Tourism and Sports deputy permanent secretary, Thanittha Sawetasila Maneechoti, said Thailand will lead a task force on ASEAN's strategies for the tourism market, ecotourism personnel development, as well as green hotels and spa standards.

Thailand will also report to senior officials following the appointment of the Green Leaf Foundation on the development of the ASEAN Green Hotel Standard.In its coordinating role it will organise a training programme on the ASEAN Green Hotel Standard, 28 to 29 July, at Pattaya, Chonburi.

On training, ASEAN member countries will be asked to endorse an ASEAN spa draft plan that is due to be presented to the meeting of ASEAN's qualitative tourism task force scheduled for October in Brunei, and before the next ASEAN senior tourism's meeting in Manado, Indonesia, January 2012.

Source = ttrweekly