Travel agencies urged to broaden focus to Asean
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Multi-country packages would satisfy tourists' appetite for wide range of cultures
Asean is urging tour operators from its 10-member countries to develop multi-country packages highlighting “experiential and creative tourism”, a rising trend among consumers, said Aung Zaw Win, chair of the Asean tourism product development working group.
Experiential and creative tourism offers multi-destination packages that allow visitors to sample the wide array of cultures, landscapes, people, flora and fauna, food, handicrafts, entertainment, shopping and recreation opportunities across Asean.
“Today’s travellers are more sophisticated and interested in unique experiences, with immersion in local ways of life.
“Our role is to therefore support multi-country experiential travel within Asean member states,” Win said.
According to the working group, Asean is now promoting six experiential and creative themes in a bid to encourage multi-country trips across Southeast Asia.
The themed promotions, which are part of the implementation of the Asean Tourism Marketing Strategy 2012-2015, include: “The Tastes of Southeast Asia”; “Asean, a Tropical Paradise”; “World Class Cities”; “Experience Diverse Traditions”; “Sport and Relaxation”; and “Diverse Contemporary Creativity”.
To inspire travellers, Asean has compiled a series of features delivered by the themes, such as beaches, nature and wildlife; cruise and rail tours; culture and heritage; education and volunteering; food and nightlife; fun and leisure; health and spa; outdoor and water sports, and pilgrimage tourism.
An initial list of 20 tour operators offering the themes in multi-country itineraries has been posted on the Asean travel website.
More trips are being added to cover all the 10 Asean nations – the Philippines, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam – called “Asia’s perfect 10 paradise”.
The Asean’s tourism strategy bodes well for the Philippine government’s goal of hitting 10 million tourist arrivals by 2016. In April, tourist arrivals were up 10.12 per cent to 1.65 million, from 1.498 million a year ago.
