News and Events

9th Meeting of the SASEC Tourism Working Group to Review the Draft Final Report of RETA 6362: SASEC Tourism Development Project

Tourism has been identified as one of the priority areas for cooperation under the South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation (SASEC) program since 2001. A tourism working group (TWG), comprising members of the national tourism organizations of Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, India and Sri Lanka was formed to coordinate tourism initiatives. In 2004, TWG, with ADB technical assistance prepared and adopted a Tourism Development Plan (TDP), providing a strategic framework for a long-term partnership between participating countries and ADB to develop an environmentally sustainable, culturally sensitive, and socially inclusive tourism sector that will catalyze economic growth and reduce poverty in participating countries. Two product-specific programs that focus on the themes of "Buddhist circuits" and "ecotourism based on nature and culture" were identified as priority programs of the TDP. Since its adoption, TDP has been used by TWG as an effective tool to coordinate the tourism efforts of the participating countries.

The TWG, more recently, recognized the need to combine individual country assets into attractive and marketable tourism circuits to foster synergies across borders. An integrated development of high-potential cross-border circuits through investments for enhanced access and connectivity, destination infrastructure and facilities; and sustainable tourism destination management has been deemed necessary.

A technical assistance by ADB is therefore being provided to help participating countries jointly develop multi-country circuits associated with spiritual tourism and nature- and culture-based ecotourism. The TA is also aimed at assessing the feasibility and design of a package of priority investments in tourism-related infrastructure and facilities in selected multi-country circuits which will result in an improved tourist experience and thus increased arrivals and lengthened stay of tourists in the subregion. The draft final report (DFR) of the TA was submitted by 10 April 2008. The DFR identifies a number of high-potential cross-border tourism circuits, determines their overall infrastructure requirements, and provides pre-feasibility evaluations of priority subprojects for a subregional tourism investment package for possible ADB financing.

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The Ninth Tourism Working Group meeting is aimed

• reviewing the draft final report of the technical assistance for SASEC Tourism Development Project
• soliciting inputs from the TWG, development partners and other stakeholders in refining the Project
• discussing plans for further processing the Project

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• Secretaries and officials from the Ministries of Finance and Tourism from Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka
• Heads of selected National Tourism Organizations
• Representatives of development partners and private sector groups
• Resource Consultants
• ADB Staff

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The Meeting will be held in New Delhi, India.