Kota Kinabalu: The first-ever Asean Travel Exchange (ATE) 2025, a mega tourism event to be held in Malaysia, will take place in Sabah, says Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment Datuk Seri Christina Liew.
She said the State Government through the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Environment (KePKAS) will host this inaugural event at the Sabah International Convention Centre (SICC) on June 19, next year.
AdvertisementEssentially, ATE 2025 is a premier Business 2 Business (B2B) networking event in Sabah, Malaysia, connecting travel trade sellers and regional buyers to foster partnerships and collaborations.
Liew stressed that it is a timely and apt move, given that Malaysia will assume ASEAN Chairmanship next year, whereby Malaysia will take on the Chair of Asean for the year 2025, officially commencing its leadership on January 1, 2025. Asean has 10 member countries : Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, The Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
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Liew said ATE 2025 is in tandem with the Prime Minister’s vision of championing Asean ‘s growth, adding it will serve as a pivotal platform to showcase Asean ‘s solidarity in advancing regional tourism and economic development.
AdvertisementTowards this end, President of the Federation of Asean Travel Associations (Fata) Datuk Tan Kok Liang mooted the proposal for four organisations, namely Fata, Aseanta (Asean Tourism Association), Matta (Malaysia Association of Tour & Travel Agents) and Air Asia Group, to establish strategic partnership with Sabah Tourism Board (STB) in orchestrating ATE 2025.
“KePKAS and its agency, Sabah Tourism Board (STB) agree and fully support the proposal for smart partnership with STB in organising this major event. We endorse and are ready to host ATE 2025 because it is beneficial to Sabah. We will support the organisers all the way.
Advertisement“Significantly, it is a MICE event of huge magnitude that will further enhance Sabah’s global visibility at least in the Asean region, not to mention the foreseeable great impact on the local economy,” Liew said after a courtesy call by a nine-member delegation led by Tan to brief her on ATE 2025 on Thursday.
She concurred with the President of Fata that Asean, which was established in 1967, is regarded as a “low-hanging fruit” by virtue of the region’s population of 700 million.
Briefing the Minister on the objectives of the proposed smart partnership, Tan said these are to promote tourism products, exchange ideas, and highlight destinations in Malaysia.
“We want to position Malaysia, particularly Sabah, as a premier global tourism destination by leveraging Malaysia’s role as Asean Chair in 2025. We aim to develop the state as a preferred MICE and leisure destination.”
In this regard, there will be a product presentation by Sabah Parks, Sabah Wildlife Department, Sabah Convention Bureau, and STB as part of the agenda.
