Yang Berhormat Dato Seri Setia Dr Haji Abdul Manaf bin Haji Metussin, Minister of Primary Resources and Tourism headed a Brunei Darussalam delegation to the 27th Meeting of ASEAN Tourism Ministers (27th M-ATM) and Related Meeting in conjunction with the ASEAN Tourism Forum 2024 (ATF 2024) held on January 23 to 26. 

The meeting was preceded by the 59th Meeting of the ASEAN National Tourism Organisations, (NTOs) and other senior official meetings with dialogue partners. With the theme of ‘Quality and Responsible Tourism – sustaining ASEAN Future’, the Meeting emphasised the importance of forging a closer collaboration among the ASEAN Member States in all relevant sectors to ensure the sustainability and resiliency of ASEAN tourism. Based on the preliminary figures of 2023, ASEAN saw a 153.09 per cent year-on-year increase in international arrivals. 

The meeting also expressed appreciation to the ASEAN-China Centre, ASEAN-Japan Centre, and ASEAN-Korea Centre for their continued support in strengthening people-to-people connectivity and cultural understanding through various activities and projects. 

Also held was the ASEAN-India Tourism Meeting where the meeting agreed to explore joint projects to promote sustainable tourism in ASEAN and India, taking into account the Action Roadmap for Sustainable Tourism Development in ASEAN, as well as the Goa Roadmap for Tourism that was endorsed at the G20 Ministerial Meeting held in Goa, India. 

While the ASEAN-Russian Federation Tourism Meeting reaffirmed the commitment to support the progress towards sustainable tourism in ASEAN and the Russian Federation, as well as to strengthen cooperation on sustainable and inclusive growth ensuring that tourism benefits reach a broad spectrum of society. 

At the ASEAN Tourism Standards Awards Ceremony, Kuala Belait was named the 4th ASEAN Clean Tourist City. Meanwhile, the 9th ASEAN Green Hotel was awarded to Radisson Hotel, whereas the 4th ASEAN MICE Venue (Meeting Room) was awarded to 3 entities namely Radisson Hotel, The Empire Brunei and An-Naura Hall, Yayasan Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah, whilst the recipient for the 1st ASEAN MICE Venue (Exhibition Venue) is The Empire Brunei. Additionally, Freme Travel received the 4th ASEAN Sustainable Tourism Award (Gastronomy Tourism Theme).