The East Asia Summit on tourism, trade and travel was held in Bangkok, Thailand on May 30, as part of the World Economic Forum on East Asia. The event took place at a time that ASEAN is said to have a lot of potential to develop tourism and travel. Tourism has made a huge contribution to job generation and stimulates economic growth in ASEAN, as estimated about 4.6 percent of the regional GDP.
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| World Economic Forum on East Asia From Threeland Travel Indochina's Blog - June 2012 |
In most ASEAN countries, outdated visa procedures have become one of the hinders to tourism development, therefore, one of the main objectives of ASEAN’s Strategic Plan for Tourism during 2011-2015 is to grant a common visa for non-ASEAN arrivals within five years, to create a Schengen type ASEAN visa. Once this goal is achieved, tourists can travel freely within the Schengen type ASEAN territory.
In February 2012, Thailand and Cambodia started to grant a single visa for non-ASEAN tourists. The region is pursuing several initiatives focused on intra-ASEAN visas and the adoption of e-visas. Cambodia has already implemented an e-visa system while Myanmar started to use the procedure in March this year. This model is currently in the expending process to Laos and Vietnam.
All of these efforts will play a significant role in promoting tourism in ASEAN. Visitors can get easier access to visas and avoid many restrictions in traveling abroad. If you are interested in this substantial reform, please visit Threeland Travel Indochina and contact us.
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