Members of the 17th General Assembly of the East Asia Inter-Regional Tourism Forum (EATOF 17) have agreed to upgrade the EATOF to the East Asia Inter-Regional Tourism Federation in order to promote their practical and effective cooperation in the near future, toward playing a pioneering role in propelling tourism recovery and growth in the region.

It was part of the joint statement signed by Governors and leaders of the member provinces at their conference within the framework of the EATOF 17 on October 26 in the northern province of Quang Ninh.

They pledged to establish a cooperation governance mechanism with administrations of member provinces on the basis of public-private-academic partnerships and expand a global network to achieve sustainable tourism.

Officials expressed their support for large-scale political and socio-economic events of member provinces and encouraged practical exchanges.

They vowed to keep working together for tourism development based on the principles of fair and eco-friendly tourism and sustainable development, and strive to realise the plans discussed together.

Speaking at the conference, Chairman of the Quang Ninh provincial People’s Committee Nguyen Tuong Van said Quang Ninh, a promising land and attractive destination of Vietnam, always expects to welcome visitors from EATOF member provinces.

The EATOF 17 took the theme "Tourism recovery in East Asia in the new normal era”, which was held in concurrent with the 20th establishment anniversary of EATOF.

The EATOF 18 will be held in Tuv, Mongolia in 2024.

Founded in Gangwon in 1999, EATOF now groups Cebu of the Philippines, Gangwon of the Republic of Korea, Jilin of China, Luang Prabang of Laos, Quang Ninh of Vietnam, Sarawak of Malaysia, Siem Reap of Cambodia, Tottori of Japan, Tuv of Mongolia and Yogyakarta of Indonesia.

Quang Ninh joined the EATOF as an observer in 2004 and officially became its member at the 2006 General Assembly in Sarawak, Malaysia./.