e-News® | The NEWS Company…YANGON, Jan 3, 2015 : Myanmar will host ASEAN Tourism Forum-2015 later this month in Nay Pyi Taw aimed at enhancing the country’s growth of tourist industry, the Hotels and Tourism Ministry said today.

The 34th ASEAN Tourism Forum, the first of its kind to be hosted by the Southeast Asian country, will run from Jan. 22 to Jan. 29. Some 1,500 visitors from 40 countries including tourism ministers and officials, ASEAN exhibitors and international buyers as well as local and international media circle are expected to attend the annual event. During the eight-day forum, ASEAN Tourism Ministers Meeting, Ministerial Meeting between on Tourism between ASEAN and its dialogue partners, ASEAN Tourism Authorized Persons’ Meeting and related meetings including business matching sessions will be held in the capital.

The first ASEAN Tourism Forum was hosted by Malaysia in 1981 to provide a platform for sale and purchase of tourist products of ASEAN member countries. According to regional tourism statistics, 99.2 million international tourists visited ASEAN in 2013. Of them, 2.04 million visited Myanmar during the year, a 93- percent growth compared with the previous year.

The number of tourist arrivals in Myanmar hit 3 million in 2014, the figures also indicate.