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Asean links up to help restore tourism sector
Cambodia and its Asean member states are working together to restore the tourism industry in the region in the context of the pandemic spread, according to the Ministry of Tourism.
Thong Rathasak, the Ministry of Tourism’s director-general, who joined an Asean tourism committee meeting via video conference from June 15-23 said that the 10-nation Asean members had discussed the restoring Asean tourism sector and measures to contain COVID-19.
He said after the meeting, the four- Asean tourism committee issued some important policies to restore the sector in the time of COVID-19 and after.
“Asean has agreed to prepare the joined digital and Artificial Intelligent (AI) platform to promote the Asean tourism sector and has put in place a restoration plan and marketing strategy 2021-2025 for tourism after the COVID-19 pandemic ends,” he said.
According to Rathasak, the committee has agreed to introduce guidelines to recognise the capability of staff members who are working in the tourism sector in Asean countries. He said the bloc has also agreed to boost investment in the Asean tourism sector.
The ASEAN Tourism Association (ASEANTA), an association that represents the tourism and hospitality sectors across the 10-nation Asean community, will host a webinar on “The New Normal in Tourism and Creating Travel Bubble” to address current and future challenges today. Travel bubbles are a way to enable people to visit destinations safely.
The event, which is open to all those connected with the region’s travel community, will focus on identifying trends and the evolution of tourism through what it described as the “New normal after post-Covid-19.” This refers to how social behaviour may change.
Clais Chenda, president of the Cambodia Hotel Association, said that it the time for Asean members to work together to restore the tourism sector.
“We are now facing a crisis and we need to find a way to restore the sector as a whole. We need to find the solution together or the region will suffer,” she said.
She said that even after COVID-19 ends, the number of long-haul tourists will not recover at least for a few years and the sector will be reliant on a regional boost.
“In a short time, we will rely on two sources of visitors, local and regional. Asean needs to find a join policy to facilitate the entry of visitors by easing travel restrictions,” she said.
According to Chenda, some hotels have started receiving local visitors and foreigners and more hotels would reopen gradually early next month.
“We get some local requests and we still wait to see whether foreign visitors start coming in. We hope that more hotels will resume their operations early next month as flights resume,” she said
However, she said Cambodia’s restrictions, requiring a $3,000 deposit from foreigners to enter the country, will contribute to reducing the return of travellers.
“The rich will be OK but as for the general tourists, they may not come or they will be reluctant to visit Cambodia,” she said.
Source: https://www.khmertimeskh.com/50737998/asean-links-up-to-help-restore-tourism-sector/