Southeast Asian Countries Join Forces to Promote Tourism

The culturally diverse countries of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam are joining forces in a campaign to promote tourism in Southeast Asia.
The campaign will start with a contest to populate a website with user-generated articles, images, text, and videos. This will be supplemented by professional content from a variety of sources: national tourism bodies within ASEAN and Lonely Planet. The services of professional travel writers and other contributors will also be drawn upon. The website and broader on-line marketing campaign will be officially launched in March at ITB Berlin.

The culturally diverse countries of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam are joining forces in a campaign to promote tourism in Southeast Asia.
The campaign will start with a contest to populate a website with user-generated articles, images, text, and videos. This will be supplemented by professional content from a variety of sources: national tourism bodies within ASEAN and Lonely Planet. The services of professional travel writers and other contributors will also be drawn upon. The website and broader on-line marketing campaign will be officially launched in March at ITB Berlin.

Tourism ministers from the 10 ASEAN nations were in Brunei to attend the ASEAN Tourism Forum. The campaign will be built around the slogan, “Southeast Asia: feel the warmth.” Emphasis will be put on the warmth of the region’s hospitality and weather as well as the diversity of its cultural attractions and tourism activities. Southeast Asia rather than ASEAN was chosen because of its greater brand awareness in international markets.

The campaign will start with a contest to populate a website with user-generated articles, images, text, and videos. This will be supplemented by professional content from a variety of sources: national tourism bodies within ASEAN and Lonely Planet. The services of professional travel writers and other contributors will also be drawn upon. The website and broader on-line marketing campaign will be officially launched in March at ITB Berlin.

According to Felix J. Cruz, chairman of the ASEAN Tourism Association (ASEANTA) and vice president for marketing at Philippine Airlines, the campaign will be able to promote multi-destination travel within the region. It is hoped that tourism can be used as a tool to fight poverty while helping small to medium-sized tourism enterprises promote their services to a wider audience.

“We are particularly excited about the boost in demand our theme-based approach to content will bring to niche-focused small and medium-sized tourism enterprises throughout ASEAN,” says ACE project director R. J. Gurley