ASEAN. fight against child sex tourism

During the Southeast Asian Conference on Child Sex Tourism in Bali, last week ASEAN countries promised greater efforts to free the region from child sex tourism.
As reportesd by the Jakarta Post, over 60,000 children in the region are being exploited in commercial sexual businesses.

Islamic countries in Asia Pacific to form travel association

Islamic countries from the Asia Pacific region have agreed to form an Asia Pacific Islamic Travel and Tours Federation to “safeguard" the interests of Muslim tourists and travel agents.
Representatives from the four founding member countries - Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei together with ASEAN neighbor Singapore - have agreed to its formation at the recent Bumitra Islamic Tourism Forum 2008 in Kuala Lumpur.

Source: eTurboNews; find full article here.

Vietnam to host 2009 ASEAN Tourism Forum

The 2009 ASEAN Tourism Forum (ATF 2009) and ASEAN Tourism Ministers' Meeting will take place in Ha Noi from January 5-12, 2009.
The event will include a meeting of tourism working groups with experts and senior officials of tourism agencies of ASEAN countries; a meeting between ASEAN Tourism Agencies, ASEAN and partners; ASEAN Tourism Ministers meeting, ASEAN and partners.

Source: vietnam.net; read more here.

Tsunami Recovery Program

Four international organisations have given the green light to a natural restoration of the coastal areas in Asia. The goal is to rehabilitate the ecosystems in these areas and, as a result, to guarantee the local population income from natural resources and a safe living environment. The project was developed in response to the tsunami that hit the region on 26 December 2004. In places where mangroves, coastal forests and coral reefs were still intact, the effects were less disastrous. Through this project, the organisations want to work with governments and the local population to achieve sound coastal development. For details see
http://www.wetlands.org/greencoast/en/news.aspx?id=f634f6f1-27d3-43ae-8f9f-9b8435fa88d8

(Originally posted by Michael Wukoschitz)

Tsunami Recovery Program

The World Travel and Tourism Council has reported that the economic slump in South East Asia led to a loss of approximately 2m jobs in the industry and at least $7billion. At the ASEAN meeting in Singapore, the Minister for Trade and Industry. Lee Yock Suan, urged the public and private sectors to work closely together to promote the region's attractions, as tourism is critical to the region's recovery.

(Originally posted John Downes)