Published on May 10, 2023
ASEAN is welcoming partnerships to create an ecosystem for sustainable tourism development. Building on the “ASEAN Framework on Sustainable Tourism Development in the Post-COVID-19 Era”, the nations highlighted the importance to involve all relevant stakeholders in both the public and private sectors to pursue sustainable tourism development through public-private-community partnerships/mechanisms to engage and empower local communities in the planning and decision-making process about the development of long-term inclusive and sustainable tourism strategies. As an example, ASEAN Tourism recently extended its unwavering support to the Singapore-based global digital travel platform Agoda on the multistakeholder collaboration between ASEAN, Agoda, and the WWF on Eco Deals Initiative.
The Initiative was built upon WWF Singapore and Agoda’s Eco Deals campaign in 2022 that implemented in several ASEAN Member States. The collaboration offered an opportunity for accommodations to participate to offer discount incentives to travellers visit ASEAN destinations, and provided funding to local WWF sustainable projects in a few selected ASEAN Member States. In their latest campaign, every booking made at participating properties through Eco Deals, Agoda will donate one US dollar to WWF’s marine, forest and wildlife conservation programs in popular tourist destinations, with a minimum commitment of USD 160,000 and a donation target of USD 250,000. The campaign lasts between 2 March through 2 September 2023. Thousands of accommodation partners from 7 ASEAN countries, including Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, Thailand, Viet Nam, Cambodia, have jointly participated in this campaign. The campaign aims to raise awareness on responsible and sustainable travel, and promote Southeast Asia as travel destinations.
Through this project, ASEAN Tourism aims to enhance the promotion of sustainable tourism awareness to both local and international audience by educating the pressing sustainable issues and projects. It aims to co-create a more Sustainable, Inclusive and Resilient tourism sector in ASEAN.
“Sustainability is clearly on people’s minds, with many aware of the environmental measures being taken in their home markets as well abroad,” said Enric Casals, Regional Vice-President Southeast Asia and Oceania at Agoda. “In addition, travelers are looking for ways to minimize their ecological footprints while making a positive impact on the places they visit. Agoda’s Eco Deals program aims to facilitate this movement by giving travelers the opportunity to support conservation initiatives simply by booking an Eco Deal accommodation.”
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