The next ASEAN Tourism Forum (ATF), originally scheduled for 17 to 23 January 2021 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, will be postponed until 2022. Cambodia to remain as host destination, but venue and theme yet to be confirmed.
There has not yet been official news on the event’s status and especially TRAVEX — the main component from 19 to 21 January — less than three months away. The Cambodian Ministry of Tourism is working with MP International, the PCO handling the event, to release an official announcement.
Thong Rathasak, director general, tourism development and international cooperation, said the unprecedented Covid‐19 pandemic has brought “a lot of changes and challenges” for events and trade shows.
Rathasak confirmed that Cambodia will remain the host of the next ATF, although Indonesia would have been next in line for the travel trade show, which brings together meetings of government ministries/agencies and trade associations of the 10‐country bloc.
ATF 2021 was expected to draw some 2,000 participants from more than 25 countries. The prolonged pandemic, international travel restrictions and limited airline operations in the region and long haul, have nonetheless derailed the plans the event.
Besides new dates, it also isn’t known yet whether the 2021 theme of “ASEAN – A Community of Peace and Shared Future” will be retained, and if Chroy Changvar International Exhibition Hall, currently under construction, will still be the venue.
ASEAN Tourism Forum
The ASEAN Tourism Forum (ATF) is a cooperative regional effort to promote the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as one tourist destination. This annual event involves all the tourism industry sectors of the 10 member states of ASEAN: Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam.
ATF was established in 1981. Each year, the hosting of ATF is rotated among the member countries, and 2021 marks the 40th anniversary of the event.
