ASEAN Recognises Its Best Sustainable Tourism Products
Seventeen winners of the inaugural ASEAN Sustainable Tourism Awards (ASTA) received recognition at a dedicated awards event at the end of the ASEAN Tourism Forum, 26 January in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand.
The new awards will now take place every two years as partial fulfilment of the ASEAN Tourism Strategic Plan 2016-2025, much of which seeks to advance sustainable tourism objectives.
The nine winners in the Rural Sustainable Products category were Sothy’s Pepper Farm in Cambodia, Desa Wisata Nglanggeran in Indonesia, Tree Top Explorer in Lao PDR, KOPEL Kinabatangan Wildlife Corridor in Malaysia, the Pindaya Region in Myanmar, Walk on the Wild Side in the Philippines, Kranji Countryside in Singapore, the Kao Yao Noi Community Based Ecotourism Club in Thailand, and the Stay with Tay Ethnic Village in Viet Nam.
The eight winners in the Urban Sustainable Products category were Wat Phnom Historical and Cultural Site in Cambodia, the Nusa Dua in Indonesia, Phousi Mountain in Lao PDR, the KL Forest Eco Park by KL Tower in Malaysia, the Kayin State’s Natural Limestone Caves in Myanmar, the Palina Greenbelt River Cruise Experience in the Philippines, the Marina Bay Precinct in Singapore, and the Phuket Natural Experience in Thailand.
“I congratulate all 17 ASTA recipients,” said Mr. Sounh Manivong, the Director General of Tourism Marketing in the Lao PDR Government. “I encourage tourists to experience these products first hand. They are all shining examples of sustainable tourism in Southeast Asia.”
Entries to the awards were assessed by the National Tourism Organization in each ASEAN member state. Judging criteria and scoring was standardised throughout the nine ASEAN countries that participated. Auditors took inspection visits to all short-listed sites.
For more information about ASTA and its awardees, please click here.
The next ASTA will take place at ATF in Brunei Darussalam in 2020.
