Ha Long Bay – The shimmering bay of Ha Long with its magnificent limestone formations will form the backdrop of the 38th ASEAN Tourism Forum (ATF) this January 2019. Ha Long city, the capital of the surrounding Quang Ninh province, is all set to welcome some 1500 international delegates during the week-long event. This includes ministerial officials to its formal meetings, as well as supplying exhibitors across ASEAN, hosted buyers & media from around the world, and other travel industry professionals to the TRAVEX trade show.

Official ministerial meetings will mainly be held at the FLC Ha Long Bay Resort while the 3-day TRAVEX travel trade exhibition from 16 to 18 January 2019 will take place at the Quang Ninh Exhibition of Planning and Expo Center (QNEPEC). The 21,000 sqm state-of-theart venue modelled after a local pearlmaking mollusk, has been the selected venue of choice for significant cultural, social, and economic forums in the city and can now add the ATF name to its list.

Expressed Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Viet Nam, H.E. Nguyen Ngoc Thien, “The people of Quang Ninh province are ready to welcome delegates and guests. We are honoured to host ATF and we invite all visitors to experience the natural beauty and warmth of our people. We are ready to embrace all ASEAN states to drive connectivity and sustainable tourism to Viet Nam and the region as one.”

In anticipation of ATF 2019, the city has undergone extensive developments to enhance connectivity to Ha Long city. A new highway connecting capital Hanoi with the province, will cut transport time down to 1.5 hours from 4 hours.