ASEAN Tourism Forum: Vital Platform For Regional Tourism Promotion

JOHOR BAHRU, Jan 16 (Bernama) — The ASEAN Travel Forum (ATF) is still a vital event for promoting travel among the ten ASEAN member countries in a time when international travel fairs are growing, according to Tourism Malaysia director-general Datuk P. Manoharan.

He said that although many travel fairs have emerged, including ITB Asia, Arabian Travel Market (ATM), and World Travel Market (WTM), ATF is the only venue that could bring the region together to demonstrate its shared appeal to the global market.

"It is the only platform that unites all 10 ASEAN destinations to showcase ASEAN to long-haul markets as a single, cohesive destination.Therefore, in my opinion, the answer to the question of whether this ATF is relevant is yes," he stated.

However, Manoharan stated that in order to guarantee ATF's continued relevance, the ASEAN Tourism Association (ASEANTA) and important stakeholders need to have critical conversations to rethink its goals and organisation. 

“ASEANTA and other stakeholders need to reach a consensus on how we evolve ATF. This could mean finding new ways to align with current industry trends," he said.

Manoharan made the statement at the international media briefing on Visit Malaysia 2026 Year (VM2026), which was held today at Johor Convention Centre (Persada) in conjunction with the ASEAN Travel Exchange (TRAVEX), which is a component of ATF 2025 programmes.

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He was responding to a question on whether ATF needs to be restructure in light of the growth of regional platforms such as ITB Asia as well as international travel fairs, among others ATM, and WTM.

ATF 2025, which takes place here from January 15–20, aims to promote regional tourism products, facilitate knowledge exchange, build valuable networking, and improve cooperation with leaders in the global tourism industry in order to increase the number of tourists visiting ASEAN.

Meanwhile, when met by local media later, Manoharan said the information session aimed to inform and promote VM2026 to international media.

He said VM2026 was an important national agenda and the government hoped to get close cooperation from international media to promote the campaign on their respective platforms.

“In this session, we detailed the direction of the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture Malaysia (MOTAC) for the campaign including efforts to strengthen transportation facilities for tourists, as well as efforts to improve the tourist experience to encourage them to stay longer and spend more in Malaysia,” he said.

-- BERNAMA