Today, ASEAN marks its 50th anniversary as a regional political and economic bloc. And in that five decades, travel & tourism has risen as a serious economic contributor to the 10 nations.
TTG Asia Media, having been around for more than 40 years, has witnessed, recorded and participated in the growth of ASEAN’s travel & tourism industry. On this special day, we raise a toast to the regional grouping. We salute it for celebrating rather than fearing diversity, for how it values inclusiveness, and for its spirit ‘co-opetition’ (co-operation and competition), among others.
Celebrating 50 years of ASEAN with our special edition
We’ve been celebrating ASEAN’s 50th anniversary since the beginning of 2017, when we launched a special edition that compiled what we to us is the ‘A-Lists’, i.e. our ASEAN lists of achievements – 50 travel agencies that stand the test of time, 50 ASEAN homegrown hotel groups and 50 ASEAN tourism personalities who helped to shape ASEAN tourism. Since that issue, launched at the ASEAN Tourism Forum in Singapore, we’ve dedicated an ASEAN@50 page in each issue in 2017 – read ‘Rising stars of ASEAN’, ‘A raft of ASEAN cruising’ and ’50 best ASEAN travel experiences’, to name a few.
Our wish for ASEAN tourism? For the next generation to contribute towards the sustainable development of the industry in the next 50 years, just as their parents had.
Happy birthday, ASEAN, from all of us at TTG Asia Media.
