2014 APEC Tourism Ministerial Meeting

1. We, Tourism Ministers and representatives of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) member economies: Australia; Brunei Darussalam; Canada; Chile; the People’s Republic of China; Hong Kong, China; Indonesia; Japan; the Republic of Korea; Malaysia; Mexico; New Zealand; Papua New Guinea; Peru; the Republic of the Philippines; the Russian Federation; Singapore; Chinese Taipei; Thailand; the United States of America; and Viet Nam, attended the 8th APEC Tourism Ministerial Meeting in Macao, China on September 13, 2014.
2. The theme of APEC 2014 in China is “Shaping the future through Asia-Pacific partnership.” We recognize the important role of tourism in promoting economic cooperation, trade, and people-to-people and cultural exchanges among APEC member economies, and that it can make important contributions to the building of a new type of Asia-Pacific partnership.
3. In addition, the year 2014 marks the 25th anniversary of APEC. Over the years, APEC has had fruitful cooperation in many areas including tourism. On that basis, APEC member economies share a common will to carry forward and steadily enhance APEC cooperation. We therefore agree to set “Building a new future for Asia-Pacific tourism cooperation and development” as the theme of the current Tourism Ministerial Meeting. We will make efforts to achieve the target of 800 million international tourists among APEC economies by 2025. We call on APEC economies to attach higher importance to tourism and develop it as a pillar industry. We hope that APEC Leaders will fully recognize the important significance of promoting Asia-Pacific tourism cooperation and development and consider the aforementioned aspiration in the Declaration of the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting to be held in Beijing.
4. We recognize that the Asia-Pacific region is the largest tourism market in the world, and that there is great potential for promoting the integration of the Asia-Pacific tourism market. We therefore encourage APEC member economies to actively implement the APEC Tourism Strategic Plan (ATSP), and take relevant follow-up steps to improve medium- and long-term roadmaps and collective plans of action for integrated cooperation in tourism.
5. We recommend that APEC member economies discuss the necessity and feasibility of enhancing tourism coordination mechanisms in the Asia-Pacific region, to guide and encourage member economies to further enhance cooperation in tourism products development, marketing and promotion, tourist services, international tourism investment, taxation policy for tourism growth, personnel education and training, job creation through tourism, etc. We recognize and respect that tourism can be utilized as a fundamental and strategic mode to preserve socio-cultural equity, heritage sites and local wisdom for the sake of community-based, rural- or village-based, and cultural tourism development to ensure alignment with sustainable economic development and poverty eradication within the Asia-Pacific region. We encourage member economies to increase cultural exchange and integration to create a better enabling environment for the integration of the Asia-Pacific tourism market.
6. We recognize that promoting integrated development of tourism and other industries can be an important contributor to value chain cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region. At present, the economy of the Asia-Pacific region is still recovering from the financial crisis. Finding new and additional driving forces for economic development and promoting inclusive and balanced growth is the shared objective of each and every APEC member economy. Therefore, integrating the development of tourism with other industries could not only bring into full play the geographical advantage, tourism resources and social and economic conditions of member economies, but could also help realize the transformation and sustainable development of tourism. To this end, we encourage the APEC Tourism Working Group (TWG) to share the best practices of integrated development of tourism and various industries and to initiate a series of demonstration projects within APEC. We encourage APEC member economies to make use of their resource advantages, and facilitate study tours, health tourism, rural tourism, sport tourism, marine and cruise tourism and other niche tourism products that can grow tourism-related industries.
7. We note that wide use of the latest science and technology, information technology in particular, has become a key feature of modern tourism. We therefore encourage APEC member economies to boost innovation, explore and promote smart tourism and related cooperation, and share business and other opportunities that come along with smart tourism. We urge the TWG to conduct a comprehensive survey and assessment of the current state of smart tourism in all APEC member economies, collect successful experiences and outstanding issues, and on that basis, identify priority areas of cooperation.
8. We recognize that tourism can be a good example for promoting green and sustainable development in the Asia-Pacific region. We therefore encourage all member economies to take the APEC Growth Strategy 2010 for low-carbon development as a reference and, while implementing their respective tourism policies, consider cooperating on low-carbon tourism development in the Asia-Pacific region.
9. We unanimously agree that strengthening tourism cooperation is an effective way to promote connectivity in the Asia-Pacific region. With respect to physical connectivity, growth of tourism can push forward infrastructure development, such as land, maritime and air transport, highways, railways, seaports, airports, water delivery, communications, and Internet access. In terms of institutional and people-to-people connectivity, the growing number of international tourists across the Asia-Pacific region will be a driving force for APEC member economies to steadily increase tourism market access, improve the mechanism for tourism market management, and simplify visa and customs clearance procedures. To this end, we agree to update the ATSP, and include in it interactive development of connectivity and tourism in the Asia-Pacific region. We encourage APEC member economies to share their best practices in which tourism pushes forward connectivity, and to disseminate successful experiences in the Asia-Pacific region.
10. We encourage APEC member economies to continue to implement the APEC Travel Facilitation Initiative and the APEC Guidelines on Ensuring Tourist Safety. In this regard, we welcome the outcome of the High Level Dialogue on Travel Facilitation held in 2013 in Bali, Indonesia, that highlights the importance of making travel more accessible, convenient, and more efficient, while maintaining secure travel. We believe these actions are important to deepening Asia-Pacific tourism cooperation.
11. We recognize the significant differences among APEC member economies in economic development, culture and history. We therefore stress that diversity and flexibility should be maintained when conducting Asia-Pacific tourism cooperation so as to strike a balance among member economies’ tourism interests.
12. We encourage the APEC TWG to have closer cooperation with the Transportation Working Group, the Business Mobility Group, the Telecommunications and Information Working Group, the Counter Terrorism Working Group, the Group on Services, the Policy Partnership on Science, Technology and Innovation, and other forums related to APEC, and jointly launch cross-cutting initiatives or demonstration projects for the implementation of ATSP.
13. We recognize that involving other multilateral and regional tourism organizations, private travel services and the business community will significantly boost and complement APEC’s efforts in building a new future for Asia-Pacific tourism cooperation and development. We therefore encourage the APEC TWG to continue to enhance partnerships, communication and coordination by increasing cooperation with industry, the United Nations World Tourism Organization, the World Travel and Tourism Council, the APEC International Center for Sustainable Tourism, the Pacific Asia Travel Association, the APEC Business Advisory Council, and other relevant institutions and organizations.
14. We look forward to the next Tourism Ministerial Meeting to be held in 2016.
15. We express our sincere thanks to the distinguished guests attending this Ministerial Meeting from the World Tourism Organization, the World Travel and Tourism Council, the APEC International Center for Sustainable Tourism, the Pacific Asia Travel Association, and other international and regional tourism organizations. We look forward to continued comprehensive cooperation with them.
16. We express our sincere thanks to the APEC Secretariat and the Lead Shepherd for their efforts and contribution to the success of the Tourism Ministerial Meeting. We also express our heart-felt appreciation to China for hosting the APEC TWG Meeting and the Tourism Ministerial Meeting, and to the Macao Special Administrative Region of China for the warm hospitality.

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