DOT readies hosting of 2016 Asean Tourism Forum

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Tourism (DOT) is ready to host the 2016 Asean Tourism Forum (ATF) in January which aims to establish a cooperative effort to promote the Southeast Asian region as a single tourist destination.

With the theme “One Community for Sustainability”, tourism ministers of the 10 member-states will discuss innovations, trends, and developments in the industry and facilitate joint policy formulations to accelerate the growth of the region’s tourism.

“It’s very timely because next year will be the Visit Philippines Again campaign. It provides for a fitting kick-off for our 2016 campaign,” DOT Undersecretary Benito Bengzon Jr. said in an interview.

Although no class and work cancellations are expected, the DOT appealed to the public to stretch their patience during the week-long event slated Jan. 18-25 as traffic scenarios in the metro would be heavier.

“We have to emphasize the hosting of ATF comes once every 10 years. We will make sure the movement of our delegates will be as smooth as possible and that the general public will not be inconvenienced,” Bengzon noted.

Although next year’s ATF will be a bit shorter, Bengzon said DOT made sure that programs will be more compact. “We noticed there are some activities that both tourism ministers and heads of NTOs (national tourism organizations) are not able to attend at the same time,” he added. 

DOT targets 200 government and organization officials; 400 buyers and 1500 sellers for the ATF Travel Exchange; and 100 international and 50 local media to attend the ATF 2016.

Another significant event during the ATF would be the discussion and approval of the Asean Tourism Strategic Plan (ATSP) which would be the master plan for the whole of Asean covering the current period all the way to 2020.