ASEAN travel exhibition to feature tourism products, services

The upcoming ASEAN Trade Travel Exhibition is expected to see more than 400 booths showcasing tourism products and services of the 10 member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the Myanmar Ministry of Hotels and Tourism said on Friday.

The two-day ASEAN trade travel show, which will start on Jan. 28, is part of the 2015 ASEAN Tourism Foru taking place in Nay Pyi Taw on Jan. 22-29.

Myanmar will participate in the exhibition with 143 booths, while Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia will have 86, 52 and 52 respectively.

The ASEAN tourism forum will draw more than 1,700 delegates from 50 countries, including heads of National Tourism Organizations from ASEAN and dialogue partners and suppliers from across ASEAN, international buyers and trade visitors as well as the media.

The opening ceremony of the forum, which is a cooperative effort to promote the region's tourist destinations, will take place on Monday.

The eight-day forum also includes ASEAN Tourism Ministers Meeting, Ministerial Meeting between on Tourism between ASEAN and its dialogue partners and ASEAN Tourism Authorized Persons' Meeting.

The first ASEAN Tourism Forum was hosted by Malaysia in 1981 to provide a platform for sale and purchase of tourist products of ASEAN member countries.

According to regional tourism statistics, 99.2 million international tourists visited ASEAN in 2013. Of them, 2.04 million visited Myanmar during the year, a 93-percent growth compared with the previous year.

The number of tourist arrivals in Myanmar hit more than 3 million in 2014, the figures indicate.