Ha Long City – The ASEAN region or Southeast Asia, comprising the 10 Member Countries, is notable for its tropical climate, hospitable people, flavorful cuisine, colorful diversity and many more.

Travelling through these ten ASEAN nations offers unlimited diversity in terms of culture, landscape, people, flora and fauna, food, handicrafts, entertainment, shopping, recreation and excitement. ASEAN offers a unique experience with each member state offering something different.

Collectively, ASEAN Member States aim to promote multi-country travel within this region, positioning Southeast Asia as a single destination.

Back in ATF 2016, the ASEAN Tourism Ministers launched the ASEAN Tourism Strategic Plan (or “ATSP”) 2016-2025, which outlines ASEAN Tourism’s vision, direction and strategy throughout the course of 10 years. Within the framework of ATSP, ASEAN NTOs developed the ASEAN Tourism Marketing Strategy (ATMS) 2017-2020 as a guideline to how we can effectively utilize different marketing strategic tools, prioritize our work plans, as well as address changing marketing trends to embark on marketing activities during the stated period.

In other words, while each Member State will continue to promote their own country, the 10 ASEAN Member States will also work together to promote Southeast Asia together, as guided by the ASEAN Tourism Marketing Strategy.

ASEAN Tourism Marketing Strategy (ATMS) 2017-2020

Vision

The Vision of the ATMS is to build awareness of Southeast Asia as a unique, , sustainable and inclusive tourism destination.

Objectives

Objectives of the ATMS are: 

1.) To raise awareness of Southeast Asia or the ASEAN region as a tourism destination and to inspire travel to the region;

2.) To develop an integrated and digitally focused marketing action plan;

3.) To develop a strategic implementation process based on collective programs with industry partnerships; and

4.) To promote regional visitor experiences that meet the development needs of the member countries.

In short, the key focuses of the ATMS implementation are 1.) raising awareness, 2) going digital, and 3) building partnerships.

Geographic Segments

The ATMS targeted Geographic Segments are :

• ASEAN countries

• China

• Japan

• Korea

• India

• Europe

• USA

• Australia

• Middle East

Themes

In addition, considering a great variety of ASEAN tourism products in our midst and limited resources, ASEAN NTOs believe that there is a need to have a focus for an effective marketing plan. ASEAN Member States therefore adopted 4 regional themes to be the highlighted over three years. They were selected based on the unique characteristics of Southeast Asian travel experiences and global trends.

The 4 Themes are :

a.) Culinary (2018)

b.) Wellness (2019)

c.) Culture & Heritage (2019 & 2020); and

d.) Nature & Adventure (2020)

Overview of 2018 Marketing Activities

1. For the first time, ASEAN engaged a digital marketing agency, FTW, a New York-based agency, last year, as it’s important to work with the right expertise to help message across in the digital space. As such, in 2018, we moved towards online promotional activities , mainly through social media channels, i.e. Facebook fanpage and Instagram account. The posts were to promote all 10 ASEAN countries along with sights and experiences, as one discovers the region, with a focus on the selected themes.
2. An ASEAN tourism blog series was released, highlighting the diversity of travel experiences across Southeast Asia.
3. Collaborated with AirAsia and TTG in several ASEAN-related campaigns and programs, as well as cross promotions.
4. Meanwhile, our marketing efforts in China, Japan and Korea, are supported by ASEAN- China Centre, ASEAN-Japan Centre and ASEAN-Korea Centre respectively. In other key markets such as Australia and India, the promotion is assisted by the ASEAN Promotional Chapter for Tourism in those respective countries.

The plans for 2019 will include:

1.) To put marketing efforts to raise the awareness of the diversity of the ASEAN region and the ASEAN Tourism brand as first priority, through digital channels and partnerships.

2.) To implement an integrated marketing campaign with our partners so as to magnify the marketing impact

3.) To establish more like-minded partnerships, as well as to strengthen collaboration with existing partners;

4.) Collaborate with brands in the private sector to further share our marketing message and respective country highlights with new audiences

5.) To revamp the ASEAN Tourism website www.aseantourism.travel, to make it more consumer-centric.

ASEAN Tourism Brand

There has been a strong perception of “ASEAN” as a political entity. The ASEAN emblem or ASEAN logo is often considered as a representation of political relations between the 10 Member States. Therefore, ASEAN NTOs developed the ASEAN Tourism logo as the main promotional logo for marketing purposes.