Asian tourism ministers debate growth strategies

CHINA: As Asia's tourism boom continues, top officials gathered in Macau on Tuesday for the World Tourism Organization's (UNWTO) first Ministerial Roundtable, aimed at identifying the best policies for coping with rapid growth and ensuring that it is sustainable.

"Despite a series of problems in recent years, Asian tourism has increased its resilience and become the motor of tourism growth worldwide" said UNWTO Secretary-General Francesco Frangialli in opening the roundtable along with Macao Chief Executive Edmund Ho Hau Wah.

The global pattern of tourist flows is being redrawn with one out of every five international tourists now choosing a destination in Asia and increasing numbers of Asian themselves traveling overseas. An estimated 156 million tourists visited the region in 2005 an increase of 7% over the previous year despite the devastating Indian Ocean tsunami.

The Ministerial Roundtable on Asia-Pacific Tourism Policies - moderated by Nik Gowing, main Presenter on BBC World Television - began with a presentation on megatrends that are shaping the future of Asian tourism. Prepared by Dr. Kaye Chon of Hong Kong Polytechnic University, the research revealed 15 megatrends, among them:

With the megatrends as a foundation, the rest of the three-hour roundtable focused on how to manage the crises that seem to regularly impact tourism, how to boost arrivals through simplification of visas and effective promotion; and how to protect the region's natural attractions and cultural treasures from the millions of tourists who visit every year.