Managing director of TTG Travel Trade Publishing, Darren Ng
With just months to ASEAN’s 50th founding anniversary in 2017, the 10 member states have joined hands to promote South-east Asia as a single yet diverse destination with a year-long campaign to commemorate the bloc’s golden jubilee.
Set to be officially launched at the upcoming ASEAN Tourism Forum in Singapore in January 2017, the Visit ASEAN@50 campaign aims to raise awareness through ASEAN brand building and drive travel multi-destination bookings in South-east Asia and boost tourist arrivals to 121 million and tourism receipts to US$83 billion by end-2017.
Strategic partners including TTG Travel Trade Publishing, AirAsia, Mastercard, Go ASEAN, ASEANTA, and the ASEAN Centres in China, Japan and South Korea have come on board to support the campaign with their own initiatives.
For example, TTG Travel Trade Publishing on its part is backing the campaign through ASEAN 50th Anniversary special editions to inspire and promote tourism business in the region, said managing director Darren Ng.
AirAsia’s head of commercial, Spencer Lee, commented: “We will aggressively promote the ASEAN Pass next year and will come out with special promotions and a livery to promote the campaign.”
Muhamad Daud, culture and tourism unit head at ASEAN-Korea Centre, said the centre will promote ASEAN at the Busan International Tourism Fair next year and introduce digital promotions.
Meanwhile, Go ASEAN, a multi-award winning content provider, will produce promotional videos including a new show showcasing the hidden gems of South-east Asia, to be launched in January 2017, said Zefny Idris, vice president, brand at Go ASEAN.
