An overview of the dialogue (Source: VNA)Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Vietnam Nguyen Ngoc Thien chairedthe Dialogue, which gathers 150 delegates from APEC economies, tourismenterprises and experts from tourism related international organisations.
Tourism has been one of key factors in cooperation between APEC membereconomies, said Thien at the opening ceremony, adding that it is an opportunityfor APEC member economies to realise current situations and discuss specificmeasures to foster tourism cooperation in the bloc, he noted.
The minister said the Dialogue is an initiative of Vietnam to realise the APECStrategy for Strengthening Quality Growth and contribute to the InternationalYear of Sustainable Tourism for Development set by the United Nations.
During the event, representatives will discuss and share experiences to promotethe sustainable tourism development policy in the Asia-Pacific region. Theevent also consists of a dialogue with APEC business community on sustainabletourism development.
Tourism cooperation among APEC members officially began in 1991 with theestablishment of APEC Tourism Working Group. In 2000, the APEC Tourism Charter,an important document providing long-term direction for the APEC tourismcooperation, was adopted at the first APEC Tourism Ministerial Meeting in theRepublic of Korea.
In 2016, Vietnam hosted the fourth APEC Tourism Ministerial Meeting in Hoi An,which adopted the “Hoi An Declaration on the Promotion of APEC TourismCooperation”. The country has also regularly and activelyparticipated in most important activities of APEC tourism cooperation andpromoted bilateral ties with APEC member economies. To date, Vietnam hasexempted entry visas for nine APEC member economies and implemented electronic visasfor three other countries. Top ten source markets of Vietnam in 2016 are APECmember economies.
Established in 1989, APEC comprises 21 economies, includingAustralia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, theRepublic of Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, thePhilippines, Russia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, the US and Vietnam.-VNA
VNA
