(VOVWORLD) -ASEAN has issued a statement to emphasise the region’s tourism recovery, with hotel searches, occupancy rates and travel confidence rising.
 Beautiful Sapa terraced rice fields in northern Vietnam (Photo:VNA)
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According to ASEAN, tourism growth is already “on the incline” in the fourth quarter of this year. Quoting the UN World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO)’s Tourism Recovery Tracker, ASEAN pointed to a 28% year-to-date increase in hotel searches as well as a 57% increase in occupancy rates.
Overall travel sentiment has also risen by an impressive 40% year-to-date, and it is expected to increase as more COVID-19 vaccines become available across the globe and variants become milder.
ASEAN noted that this progression has led to easing of the regions’ pandemic-related border restrictions.
ASEAN said the pandemic should serve as an impetus and opportunity for the sector to build forward better – by designing and building a more sustainable tourism sector that would underpin its resilience, which should no longer be taken for granted.
“The vision is for tourism in ASEAN to emerge more sustainable and resilient following the crisis induced by COVID-19, with more focus on environmental conservation and climate friendly policies, as well as on the critical socio-cultural impacts of the tourism sector in the region,” noted ASEAN in its statement.
ASEAN groups 10 member nations, namely Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.