ASEAN Smile Upon The Move Towards A Sustainable Tourism Industry

By: Lee Xin Ling Carine

Is sustainable tourism even remotely possible?

The tourism industry plays a critical role in ASEAN’s economic development. In 2019 alone, the travel and tourism sector made up 12.1% of the region’s GDP. Furthermore, an average of one in ten employees are hired within and around the industry, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC).

As countries around the world are beginning to pick up their pace in rebuilding the tourism industry due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It seems that COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the greatest flaw of ASEAN’s tourism industry. The susceptibility of the collapse of the tourism industry in the long run.

This pressing issue has garnered the attention of ASEAN member states, urging the union to gather and discuss possible solutions for long-term viability of the tourism industry.

What are the roadblocks in pushing sustainable tourism?

Sustainable tourism requires long-term, continuous efforts by stakeholders, tourists, the local community and government. It requires wide consensus and participation, with constant monitoring of the potential impacts of tourism, all while providing impactful experience and high level of satisfaction among tourists.

Ecotourism is one of the major selling points in the ASEAN tourism industry. However, tourists who flock to these environmental sites often leave behind waste that detrimentally affects the natural scenery. The goals of boosting ecotourism and sustaining ecotourism are thus often in conflict.

Another complicating factor is the preservation of the cultural heritage of indigenous people. To cater to foreign tourists, many tourism agencies often compromise the cultural exchange of these indigenous people for the sake of profit. This could potentially lead to the erosion of indigenous culture. For the agencies, cultural villages are their golden eggs, for the indigenous tribes, it is a way of life.

With all these in mind, delegates in ASEAN are working hard to ensure that such issues are mitigated, and to find a balance between sustainable tourism and the environment and culture of the Southeast Asian countries.

Unpleasantries in the discussion

Leading the discussion with much gusto, the +6 nations encouraged the delegates of ASEAN to voice their concerns regarding this topic, in hopes of discussing problems rather than solutions. The ASEAN nations, however, were not so amenable to this suggestion.

The discussion went on to discuss how a framework for sustainable tourism could perhaps be enforced across the ASEAN nations. This was quickly shot down by the delegate of The Philippines who noted that this would go against ASEAN’s core belief of non-interference in the respective countries' governance.

Only when the +6 nations continued to assure the ASEAN countries of their willingness to provide funds, did the ASEAN delegates begin to speak up for the first time. Unfortunately, rather than steering the conversation towards the problems of the current tourism industry, they began bringing in the problems regarding their countries’ economics.

With the conference coming to an end, most member states of ASEAN have resigned to staying quiet. Laos, The Philippines and non-member states were the only parties discussing solutions for the sustainability of the tourism industry.

With a minor exception to the delegates of Laos, Malaysia and the Philippines, the delegates were unable to bring relevant issues to the table for much of the discussion, with China, a non-member state, spearheading the conference. One would definitely not expect a powerful regional union like ASEAN to be led by foreign countries in facing their own issues.

Sadly, after days of discussion, the Indonesian delegate simply did not turn up for the conference, leaving Indonesia stranded and separated from foreign aid.

So where does this leave the ASEAN nations?

While the debate seemed to remain stagnant for the first half of the conference, the delegates began to direct the discussion towards how ASEAN can work together to enhance their tourism industry as a whole, rather than individually.

Practical solutions such as cultural exchange programmes and the branding of ASEAN’s regional identity were brought up. In doing so, the delegates hope that it would be able to present the ASEAN culture in a respectful and authentic way, with the delegate of Myanmar stating that it could “reinforce the attractiveness of the tourism industry”.

Perhaps, the delegate of the Philippines would then be able to bring himself to “smile upon” the efforts of the council once again.

References:

Technology Is Key to Rebooting Tourism. (2020, September 2). Jakarta Globe. https://jakartaglobe.id/opinion/technology-is-key-to-rebooting-tourism/

Post, T. J. (2019, February 1). Government to boost sustainable tourism in small villages. The Jakarta Post. https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2019/02/01/government-to-boost-sustainable-tourism-in-small-villages.html

Most Valued Business (MVB). (2020, June 30). What Does it Take to Make Indonesia a Sustainable Tourism Destination? NOW JAKARTA | What Does It Take to Make Indonesia a Sustainable Tourism Destination. https://nowjakarta.co.id/updates/sustainability/what-does-it-take-to-make-indonesia-a-sustainable-tourism-destination