ATF to host 400 overseas buyers

 ASEAN Tourism Forum 2011 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, should attract 1,600 delegates including international buyers and sellers from the 10-member nations of ASEAN. Some important items on the ministers’ agenda are unlikely to be endorsed in time for a proposed signing ceremony held just a day before the travel mart opens. The Ministry of Sports and Tourism official said there were three important agreements that were scheduled for ministerial endorsement at  ATF 2011, but due to delays in the bureaucratic process they were unlikely to be ready in time for the signing ceremony.

They are the ASEAN Tourism Strategic Plan 2011 – 2015, ASEAN Mutual Recognition Arrangement on Tourism Professionals and a Memorandum of Understanding on ASEAN – Indian cooperation in tourism. On the trade side, the ATF 2011 TRAVEX (Travel Exchange) secretariat reports over 500 booths have been sold, while 400 registered buyers will be hosted — 55% from Asia Pacific and 37% from Europe and balance from other regions. Non-hosted buyers can still register to attend, but they will have to cover all their expenses. About 100 international media have been invited under a hosted programme that provides free hotels and airline transport.

Hosted by The Ministry of Tourism Cambodia, the ATF 2011 opening ceremony will feature some 500 local performers in traditional and contemporary performances. ATF 2011 will be held, 15 to 21 January,  in Phnom Penh.  ATF TRAVEX, the three-day travel mart will take place 19 to 21 January at the Diamond Island Convention and Exhibition Centre. Manado, North Slawesi, Indonesia, will host ATF 2012, based on an alphabetical rotation system. Indonesia last hosted the ATF in 2002 in Yogyakarta.

Source=ttrweekly