Vietnam has won 15 ASEAN tourism awards at a ceremony held as part of the ASEAN Tourism Forum (ATF), which wrapped up in Ha Long city, the northern port city of Quang Ninh, on January 18. 

At the ASEAN Tourism Award ceremony

The awards cover the fields of community-based tourism, homestay, spa, and public toilet services.

Themed “ASEAN: The Power of One”, the ATF featured more than 20 activities and events, attracting the participation of over 2,000 delegates from tourism ministries and agencies of ASEAN, the World Tourism Organisation, and other international tourism organisations and associations. 

It has opened up opportunities for cooperation in and the promotion of the lands, cultures, and peoples of ASEAN member countries to international friends, as well as helped elevate the political position of the 10-member group through bilateral and multilateral mechanism dialogues. 

At the event, Vietnam proposed connecting heritages to boost ASEAN tourism in the digital era. 

Delegates agreed to adopt press statements on tourism cooperation and development both within ASEAN and between the group and its partners, as well as specific cooperation programmes in response to the ASEAN-India Year of Tourism in 2019; and set targets for tourism growth in the bloc. 

Representatives of the participating countries highly valued the efforts made by Vietnam and Quang Ninh province, which is home to UNESCO-recognised Ha Long Bay, in hosting the forum. 

This is the second time Vietnam has hosted the ATF, following the first in 2009 under the theme of “ASEAN Tourism: Striving for a New Height”.

At the closing ceremony, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyen Ngoc Thien handed over the mantle of the ATF 2020 host to Brunei. –VNA