17th East Asia Inter-Regional Tourism Forum opens in Quang Ninh

The 17th General Assembly of the East Asia Inter-Regional Tourism Forum (EATOF 17) themed “Tourism recovery in East Asia in the new normal era” officially kicked off in Ha Long city of the northern province of Quang Ninh on October 25.

This is the second time the province has hosted the important forum, which was cancelled two years ago due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The opening ceremony took place in both online and offline formats along with the 20th anniversary of the EATOF.

In his opening remarks, Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Nguyen Tuong Van underlined the crucial role by EATOF in promoting regional tourism development and expanding bilateral and bilateral cooperation, and boosting solidarity and friendship among the EATOF members.

He said he hopes EATOF members will further promote cooperation to soon recover tourism activities, especially international tourism, towards sustainable tourism development.

Kim Jin-tae, Governor of Gangwon province of the Republic of Korea, said international tourism activities have been resuming and this means that a new era of tourism has begun.

East Asia will be at the centre of the new era, while member localities of EATOF will be key players, he stressed.

EATOF 7 will feature three discussion sessions, a meeting of the EATOF Standing Committee, bilateral meetings, a meeting of provincial governors, the signing ceremony of EATOF joint statement, and a press conference.

Delegates are also to tour several tourist destinations in Ha Long and Cam Pha cities, and Van Don district.

About 150 delegates are attending the event, including domestic and foreign speakers from the World Tourism Organisation, UNESCO, Tripadvisor as well as tourism experts from universities.

The event offers a chance to promote the image of Quang Ninh as a friendly, safe and attractive destination, contributing to helping the Vietnamese locality attract investment inflows. It also helps promote investment and tourism cooperation among EATOF’s member localities in particular and countries around the world in general.

VNA