ASEAN ministers eager to lure cruise liners to the region

Jan 29, 2007, 2:00 GMT

Singapore - South-East Asian tourism ministers are focusing this week on a joint strategy to woo more cruise liners by promoting the region as the next Caribbean, participants said Monday.

Stepped up efforts to attract more youth travellers are also on the agenda of the ASEAN Tourism Forum, being held through Saturday in Singapore.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) needs a 'concerted effort' to become a compelling cruise destination, Singapore's Minister of State for Trade and Industry S Iswaran told The Straits Times.

With only a handful of attractive cruise ports, Asia has yet to catch up with such popular cruise hubs as the Caribbean and Mediterranean, he said.

Air links are also being discussed. Iswaran noted how an 'open aviation regime will pave the way for more flights and competitive airfares.' This, in turn, will give ASEAN member states the extra boost to emerge into booming tourism markets.

ASEAN is also bringing forward a plan to permit unlimited flights between the capital cities of member countries by next year.

Singapore, Thailand and Brunei already have the freedom to fly to each other's cities. Taking Singapore and Thailand as an example, Iswaran said that passenger traffic from the city-state to Bangkok has risen by more than 40 per cent since 2000.

Singapore has also sent 60 per cent more passengers to Phuket in the same period.

It will be to ASEAN's 'collective benefit' to have each country as an attractive destination in its own right, Iswaran said.

The 10-member grouping will have to work closer to 'communicate effectively to the external world so travellers are reassured and can make informed decisions,' he said.

ASEAN includes Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Brunei, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar (Burma).