Around 500 Exhibitors Expected at ASEAN Tourism Forum 2014 in Kuching

Travex, the main buyer-seller business segment of the ASEAN Tourism Forum, will be held 21-23 January in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia, under the theme, "ASEAN -- Advancing Tourism Together".

ATF 2014 marks the 33rd anniversary of this leading travel trade show which started in Malaysia in 1981.

The country and its host city Kuching, Sarawak, will this year welcome around 1,600 delegates including 150 ASEAN tourism ministers and officials, about 500 ASEAN exhibitors, 500 international buyers, 100 international and local media and around 100 tourism trade visitors.

All 10 ASEAN NTOs are participating in Travex in the same zone on Level 2 of the Borneo Convention Center, Kuching. The ASEAN tourism secretariat also has a booth at L2205 on Level 2, where first editions of the ASEAN Travel Primer booklet will be distributed for free.

"The availability of the latest ASEAN tourism products and services underpins the successful B2B format of ATF," said Mr Tran Phu Cuong, Deputy Director General, International Cooperation Department, Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT), who is also Chairman of the ASEAN Tourism Marketing and Communication Working Group.  "Buyers like the one-stop access to a diverse range of ASEAN travel products. Sellers like the diverse range of buyers attending from around the world, from both established markets and emerging ones, such as ASEAN itself, Eastern Europe, Russia and Africa. ASEAN expects a lot of new tourism business to be signed this year. We are optimistic for prospects in 2014."

When fully counted, the 2013 inbound tourism arrivals to the 10 ASEAN destinations are expected to have grown by an average of 10% in 2013 to reach about 98 million. This signifies an increase of nine million visitors in 2013 over 2012.