Published on August 17, 2005

The city of Davao in the Philippines will host the Asean Tourism Forum (ATF) next year following Burma’s decision not to host the meeting in Rangoon due to political pressure.

An official announcement of the decision will be made this week by the Philippines’ Department of Tourism secretary, Joseph H Durano, who will visit Davao on Saturday.

The Burmese government decided to forego the Asean chairmanship next year after some Asean dialogue partners – notably the United States and the European Union – implied that they would not participate in the Asean meetings if Burma was the host country.

An executive from the ATF working group said the forum in Davao would follow the same programme as that prepared for Burma. However, there was no confirmation on whether Navitas Management, which was appointed as the event organiser for the Rangoon ATF, would organise the event in the Philippines.

Another source close to the department said it was very likely that TTG Media would be assigned the task. The Singapore exhibition organiser was reportedly short-listed to organise the ATF in Davao in 2007. When asked how much work was needed before the event, the executive replied: “A lot.”

The city of Davao has 3,000 hotel rooms, including budget accommodation and that in the mid-range category. The ATF requires about 1,500 rooms for delegates.

The city is also looking for an 11,000-square-metre venue for the Asean travel exchange, Travex, a main event at the ATF. A tourist official in Davao said a possible venue for the exhibition would be the Central Bank Convention Hall.

Davao – located in the southern part of Mindanao Island – was originally selected to host the ATF in 2007.

It is still possible that Rangoon will be allowed to host the ATF in 2007 in place of Davao.

The ATF is one of region’s biggest tourism events. The meeting will be attended by 10 Asean tourism ministers along with a number of private operators, who will discuss business opportunities as well as tourism development in Asean countries.

Suchat Sritama

The Nation

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