Jakarta (VNA) – More than 200 delegates from 24 member countries of the Forum for East Asia and Latin America Cooperation (FEALAC) are gathering in Bali , Indonesia , on July 17 and 18 for a conference on ecotourism.
Addressing the conference themed "Towards Sustainable Ecotourism Development in East Asia and Latin America", Firmansyah Rahim, the Indonesian cultural and tourism ministry’s director general for tourism destination development stressed FEALAC’s significant role in promoting ecotourism internationally.
The 33-member Forum has a total population of 2.5 billion, which is huge potential in tourism if the peoples visit each others’ countries, he said.
Ecotourism promotion was expected to help increase the number of tourists visiting FEALAC member countries, he said at a press conference after the opening.
Ecotourism was educational and would encourage local residents as well as visiting tourists to help protect the environment, he added.
Among the objectives of the conference are to raise awareness among all tourism stakeholders about the importance of responsible and sustainable ecotourism development, to exchange experience and best practices in developing ecotourism, and to establish a FEALAC Ecotourism Network.
Establsihed in 2001, FEALAC has 33 member countries including Australia, China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Mexico, Myanmar, Panama, Thailand, and Peru.-Enditem
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