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Luang Prabang admitted to regional tourism forum
The first World Heritage listed site in Laos, Luang Prabang, has become a permanant member of the East Asia Inter-Regional Tourism Forum (EATOF), according to the provincial Tourism Department.
Vat Xiengthong is one of the finest temples in Luang Prabang. It was built in 1559-60 AD by King Xaysetthathirath. –Photo Zhang Qiulei
Vat Xiengthong is one of the finest temples in Luang Prabang. It was built in 1559-60 AD by King Xaysetthathirath. –Photo Zhang Qiulei
The forum was held in Gangwon province of the Republic of Korea from September 8-10.
Governor of Luang Prabang province, Mr Bounheuang Douangphachanh, led a delegation to the forum along with governors and officials from the provinces of Cebu (Philippines), Gangwon (Republic of Korea), Siem Reap (Cambodia), Tottori (Japan), Tuv (Mongolia) and Yogyakarat (Indonesia).
According to Deputy Director of the department, Mr Khamtane Somphanvilay, membership in the forum provides good opportunities to promote tourism sites in Luang Prabang province and around Laos.
“From now on all information about tourism sites in our country will be promoted through the official website of EATOF, namely www.eatof.org, which will boost the tourism industry in Laos,” Mr Khamtane said.
“EATOF rules allow only one province in each country to register membership. Membership is granted according to the expansion of the tourism industry in the respective province.”
“As a member of EATOF, Luang Prabang province now has the chance to host the EATOF General Assembly sometime in the future,” he added.
Tourist numbers in Luang Prabang province last fiscal year reached more than 344,000 people, a figure that is set to be beaten this fiscal year, according to the department.
The forum also granted membership to Siem Reap province in Cambodia. Three provinces, Luang Prabang in Laos, Siem Reap in Cambodia and Mandalay in Myanmar were observers in 2007.
Luang Prabang is situated in the centre of northern Laos, bordering Oudomxay, Phongsaly and Huaphan provinces to the north, Vientiane and Xayaboury provinces to the south and southwest, and Xieng Khuang province to the east.
Luang Prabang is rich in cultural heritage, and is known as the centre of Lao culture, with monasteries, monuments, traditional costumes and bountiful natural beauty.
Luang Prabang province has a total population of more than 365,000 and was named as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1995. Vat Phou in Champassak province was granted the same status in 2001 according to the Lao National Tourism Administration.
This year’s forum included celebrations for the 10th anniversary of the EATOF, which was originally consisted of 10 member provinces from 10 different countries. Cebu, Gangwon, Chiang Mai (Thailand), Jilin (China), Primorsky (Russia), Quang Ninh (Vietnam), Sarawak (Malaysia), Tottori, Tuv and Yogyakarta were founding members.
Forum participants also signed a joint declaration to hold the 2010 EATOF annual meeting in Quang Ninh province of Vietnam, with Cebu to host the event the following year.
Participants also pledged to support members’ projects such as Gangwon province’s bid to host the 2018 Winter Olympic Games.
The annual forum provides a venue for member provinces to strengthen friendship and collaboration, develop the tourism industry and boost exchanges.
The forum has promised to cooperate in promoting culture and tourism, and has established a charter flight and cruise committee to promote tourism exchanges among member provinces.
The assembly is a collaboration between the public and private sectors. Aside from the heads of the member provinces, representatives of airlines, shipping companies, travel companies and tourism operators attended the gathering.
EATOF was founded in Gangwon province in 2000 in order to pursue peace and prosperity through exchanges in a variety of fields. It is the only international tourism association in East Asia led by local governments.
According to the EATOF’s website, tourism will be one of the most important strategic industries in the 21st century. With the development of the aerospace and telecommunication industries, the number of tourists will greatly increase.
The present is a time when East Asian provincial governments should make tourism promotion strategies, developing their own characteristics and make concerted efforts instead of individual efforts in order to survive in the competitive world tourism market, according to the website.
”The demand for such inter-regional cooperation to maximise joint tourism promotion will be further escalated with the advent of the new millennium. While utilising regional airports as travel hubs linking inter-regional tour programmes with easy connections, East Asia in the 21st century will witness a rapid expansion in inter-regional tourism,” reads the website.
Cooperation in inter-regional tourism in East Asia will complement the limits of individual regions by topological as well as cultural characteristics, thus giving opportunities and conditions to promote tourism in the region as a whole, states the website.
In recognition of the growing importance of regionalisation and world tourism trends, Gangwon province, the premier tourist dest ination in South Korea, originally proposed to establish the ‘East Asia Inter-Regional Tourism Forum’ as a tourism cooperation network, in order to discuss common issues and raise the joint promotion of East Asia i n the world market, according to the website.
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