Thailand, Malaysia Top Tourist Destinations In Asean

Jakarta, Jan 20 (ANTARA) - Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore are top tourist destinations in ASEAN for Indians, Indian Ambassador for Indonesia Biren nanda said here on Thursday. "Roughly 2 million Indian tourists came to ASEAN every year, most of them to Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia. In the future, India and ASEAN will develop ways to increase their number of tourists coming from both sides," he said. Last Thursday (Jan 12) during the third meeting of ASEAN-India Tourism Ministers in Manado, North Sulawesi, ASEAN and India signed an MoU on the promotion of tourism cooperation. The MoU which will serve as an umbrella of cooperation in facilitating tourist travel and visits, was signed by Indonesian Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Mari Elka Pangestu and Indian Tourism Minister Subodh Kant Sahai. The MoU marked a strengthened cooperation between ASEAN and India through concrete activities. During the meeting in Manado, the two ministers hailed an action plan of the ASEAN-India Partnership for Peace, Progress and Shared Prosperity (2012-2015) at the 8th ASEAN-India summit in Hanoi, Vietnam. Support to further ASEAN-India tourism consultations covered joint marketing, crisis communications, tourism investment and the development of resources in tourism. The ministers also welcomed the ASEAN Multilateral Agreement on Full Liberalization of Passenger Air Services (MAFLPAS), and encouraged transportation institutions to complete the air transportation agreement between ASEAN and India. This agreement is important to increase connectivity and travel and foster relations between ASEAN and India.