Hirai, the Governor of Tottori, Japan which is also the hosting venue of EAT OF 2018 witnessed by Hii Chang Kee (centre), Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports Sarawak; Jee Chin Fu (2nd left), Assistant Secretary of Ministry of Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports Sarawak and Mary Wan Mering (left), Acting CEO of Sarawak Tourism Board.
TOTTORI, JAPAN: Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports Sarawak Datuk Haji Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah recently led a delegation to the 16th East Asia Inter-Regional Tourism Forum (EATOF) which was held at Tottori, Japan from 10 – 12 August 2018.
EATOF was founded in 2000 in order to pursue for peace and prosperity through exchanges in diverse fields especially on tourism and it is the only international tourism association in East Asia. Currently, EATOF has 10-member provinces which include Sarawak (Malaysia); Cebu (Philippines); Gangwon (South Korea); Jilin (China); Tuv (Mongolia); Tottori (Japan); Yogyakarta (Indonesia); Quang Ninh (Vietnam); Siem Reap (Cambodia) and Luang Prabang (Laos). Each of the EATOF members has well-preserved unique culture, tradition and history.
The theme of this year’s general assembly is ‘Sustainable Local Tourism Legacy Development’ which is aimed to continuously develop the unique contents of the region through tourism and to inculcate a responsible attitude to leave unique assets as valuable heritage for the current and future generations to discover, experience and inspire.
Among the activities in the threeday general assembly included the Standing Committee Meeting, Governors’ Conference, EATOF Night, Travel Mar t, National Mountain Day Celebration, Bilateral Meetings and Technical Tour.
During the assembly, the slogan ‘Discover, Experience, Inspire’ was chosen as the EATOF’s global slogan which was to realise the shared goals by designating 2019- 2020 as the years of EATOF Global Campaign. The Joint Declaration by the Governors had also recognised that the endowed natural environment, cultural heritage, peace and eco-tourism which have been the strong foundation of tourism industry in the region.
Therefore, the member countries will continue to pay attention and cooperate on the development of tourism programmes based on emerging themes such as sustainable conservation and development, peace and eco-tourism. The next 17th EATOF Assembly in 2020 is to be held in Quang Ninh, Vietnam.
Apart from its active participation in EATOF, Sarawak will continue to leverage on its membership in several other regional cooperation platforms namely the Brunei- Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East Asia Growth Area (BIMPEAGA), East Asia Inter-Regional Tourism Forum (EATOF), Social Economic Malaysia-Indonesia (SOSEK MALINDO) , Sabah- Sarawak-Labuan Joint Tourism Coordination and Collaboration Commi t tee (SSLJTCC) , and Sarawak- Brunei Bilateral Cooperation Tourism Working Group, to develop joint activities, marketing and promotion of tourism in the region.
