ASEAN tourism senior officials discuss draft Pakse Declaration over sustainable tourism development

Senior officials responsible for tourism affairs discussed on Tuesday in Champassak the draft Pakse Declaration expected to be adopted by Ministers of Tourism of ASEAN member countries on Wednesday.

"Today's discussion aims to reach agreement on the content of the declaration before it is submitted to the Roundtable Meeting of ASEAN Tourism Ministers for consideration and approval," Laos' state-run news agency KPL Tuesday quoted chair of the meeting Soun Manivong, who serves as Director General of Lao Department of Tourism Development, Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism, as saying.

The content of the Pakse Declaration focuses on seeking ways of cooperation on the sustainable use of natural resources to bring economic interests to local people and promote the development of tourism networks and tourism corridors in the region according to KPL.

The draft document "Pakse Declaration on ASEAN Roadmap for Strategic Development of Ecotourism" calls for an ASEAN coordinated roadmap to strategically identify, plan and develop an inter-connected network of ecotourism sites which are linked to major overland and river passageways.

These ecotourism clusters and tourism corridors are developed to traverse all ASEAN nations, transcending borders and wildlife frontiers, facilitating tourists to travel deep into rural areas and nature reserves and to experience the essence of ASEAN's ecotourism attractions.

This visionary development will unlock economic opportunities along overland and river routes; a major socio-economic initiative to create employment and uplift communities, revitalize idle natural resources and transform impoverished rural areas, said KPL. Endit