Southeast Asia Tourism ATF 2014 Kuching: Most tourism ministers were mum ...

One of the events that was a major disappointment during the recently-held 2014 ASEAN Tourism Forum (ATF), held in Kuching, Malaysia, was the joint press conference by tourism ministers and senior tourism officials representing each of the ten member states, plus China, Japan and South Korea. Simply because not everyone got their fair chance to talk during the event.

Blame this on several aspects, but mostly I would blame the lack of participation by the ministers by the “over-participation” of others. In all the times that I have covered ATF, the time allowed for the joint press conference is simply not conducive to a productive discourse. Sure, it was only proper that Malaysia’s tourism minister, Seri Mohamed Nazri bin Abdul Aziz, spoke first, but did he have to read the lengthy “joint press release?” Journalists already had the speech in their hands before the press conference started, so it really was pointless to be reading the so-called statement given that this was the only chance that all the ministers were scheduled to face the press together.

Second, Indonesia’s Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Mari Elka Pangestu spoke way more than she should have. Sure, she was more than welcome to give her “Indonesian perspective,” but on almost every single question?

Also guilty of this offense is Philippine Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez, who clearly had put on his “climate change expert” hat for the press briefing. He said: “On climate change awareness, we are where we hope the rest of the world will be.”

And finally, the moderator for the press conference did not do a good job in facilitating the press briefing. His speech in the beginning was inappropriate, as it only took more time away from those who should have been doing more talking—the rest of the tourism officials on the panel.

Thailand was never given the chance to address the demonstrations in Bangkok; Cambodia was never questioned about the lack of the Ministry of Tourism’s participation in the country’s booming orphanage tourism; Philippines was never asked about the scientific community’s growing distain of the Philippine government’s inaction a week prior to Typhoon Haiyan making landfall in Tacloban; and Myanmar’s tourism perspective on the ethnic cleansing of Muslims would have been an appropriate discussion to have.

These issues area currently making the rounds as hot topics in the news. Why were they ignored? No disrespect to “Advancing Tourism Together” as the theme for the conference, but the joint statement sounded very much like a rehash of previous other ones. Don’t they know that majority of the journalists that attend ATF do so every year?

Below is the full audio of the 50-minute press briefing, which was held at the Borneo Convention Center in Kuching, Malaysia on January 20, 2014. Fifty minutes may seem like a long time to listen, but it is definitely not enough time to tackle Southeast Asia’s travel and tourism industry.

In addition to those already mentioned, also in attendance were Brunie’s Industry and Primary Resources Minister Pehin Dato Yahya, Cambodia’s Tourism Minister Thong Khon, Lao PDR’s Information, Culture and Tourism Chaleune Warinthrasak, Thailand’s Tourism and Sports Vice Minister Sombat Kuruphgan, Vietnam’s Culture, Sports and Tourism Ho Anh Tuan, Singapore Tourism Board’s Chief Executive Lionel Yeo, China National Tourism Administration Vice Chairman Zhifa Wang, Japan’s Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Senior Vice-Minister Tsuyoshi Takagi and South Korea’s Culture, Sports and Tourism First Vice Minister Hyunjae CHO.

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Southeast Asia Tourism ATF 2014 Kuching: Most tourism ministers were mum ...