The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) nations’ tourism ministers and delegates met in Bangkok on Friday, August 19, to coordinate measures to hasten the region’s tourism rebound.
According to Thailand’s Tourism and Sports Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn, attendees of the 11th APEC Tourism Ministerial Meeting discussed the role of the tourism industry in promoting the well-being of people in the region as well as APEC’s cooperation guidelines to accelerate tourism revival in the post-Covid-19 era.
The Minister, who presided over the conference, stated, “We also compared experiences in boosting the recovery in each economy and discussed how to retain tourism’s status as a sector that contributes to the welfare and well-being of the people of the APEC region.
He remarked without going into further detail, according to a report from the Xinhua news agency, “Economies were unable to establish consensus on one paragraph of the draft joint statement, thus a chair’s statement was published after the meeting in place of a joint statement.”
According to the chair’s statement, risks that weigh on the global and regional tourism recovery include COVID-19 and economic issues, as well as rising fuel and food prices that increase travel expenses and inflation that depresses tourism and leisure spending.
In order to realize the APEC region’s vision of an open, dynamic, resilient, and peaceful Asia-Pacific community by 2040, the statement reads, “significant new uncertainties and challenges have heightened the need to harness our cooperation and promote work on sustainable tourism.”