January 25, 2025: The year 2025 has been declared as the ASEAN-India Year of Tourism. This declaration was adopted at the 12th meeting of the ASEAN - India Tourism Ministers (M-ATM Plus India) on January 20, at Johor in Malaysia. The meeting, held in conjunction with the 28th meeting of the ASEAN Tourism Ministers, was chaired by Dato Sri Tiong King Sing, Minister of Tourism, Arts, and Culture of Malaysia and India was represented by the Union Minister of Tourism and Culture of India, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, who also served as the co-Chair.
The growing importance of tourism in fostering mutual understanding, enhancing connectivity and promotion people exchanges between ASEAN countries and India was underscored. The post-pandemic recovery trends in India and ASEAN countries was also appreciated, with SE Asia remaining a significant source market for Indian inbound tourism and again, India also contributing an increase in tourists to ASEAN member states. Where nearly 7 lakh tourists travelled from ASEAN states to India in the first three quarters of 2024, the number of tourists travelling from India to ASEAN countries was nearly 4.2 million during the same period. India has lent support to the USD 5 million ASEAN-India Fund towards joint activities under the ASEAN-India Tourism Work Plan for 2023-2027. This work plan will showcase shared heritage, diverse traditions and dynamic tourism opportunities aiming to boost two way tourism.
The meeting highlighted the importance of cruise tourism and expressed appreciation for the ASEAN-India Cruise Dialogues organised by Indonesia at Aceh in October 2024. It was also agreed to encourage ASEAN NTOs and India to sustain the progress in cruise tourism development by fostering mutual cooperation with the private players and to mobilise the tourism fund to facilitate future initiatives in cruise tourism.
Sustainable Tourism
Primary focus was laid on sustainable tourism between ASEAN member states and India and the participants acknowledged the action roadmap as a guiding framework for fostering sustainability in the region. Joint projects aimed at promoting sustainable tourism and community based tourism were encouraged in line with India's Goa Roadmap for Tourism.
People Ties
In order to strengthen people ties, enhanced capacity building initiatives under the work plan was called for. The participants agreed to encourage development of tailored programs on these lines for tour operators, to deepen their understanding of Indian culture and preferences of Indian travellers. These innovative programs should aim to create culturally sensitive tourism products fuelling visitor satisfaction and recovery in the tourism sector.
The 13th Meeting of ASEAN-India Tourim Ministers will be held in the Philippines in 2026.
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