- We, the ASEAN Tourism Ministers, convened at the Second ASEAN Tourism Ministers’ Retreat on 29 September 2026 in Manila, the Philippines, and exchanged views on the evolving global and regional situation and its implications for ASEAN tourism. We underscored the importance of the Retreat as a valuable platform for candid, strategic and forward-looking ministerial dialogue, enabling ASEAN to respond collectively and in a timely manner to emerging challenges and opportunities affecting the tourism sector. We reaffirmed our commitment to ASEAN Centrality and recognised the need for continued regional coordination, vigilance and policy preparedness amidst an increasingly complex and uncertain global environment.
- We recognised tourism as a vital driver of ASEAN’s economic growth, employment, micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), investment and peopleto- people connectivity. We noted that, while tourism in the region continues to recover and expand, the sector remains highly exposed to external shocks, including geopolitical tensions, energy market volatility, economic uncertainty, climate-related risks, natural hazards and increasingly frequent and severe extreme weather events, and rapid technological change. In this context, we stressed that the Retreat has an important role in strengthening collective leadership, promoting timely policy coordination and ensuring that ASEAN tourism remains resilient, competitive, sustainable and inclusive. We further underscored the need to strengthen climate adaptation and disaster risk reduction across the tourism sector, including through enhanced business continuity planning, preparedness and coordinated crisis communication, as well as measures to support the timely recovery of affected destinations and tourism-dependent communities following disasters and other major disruptions.
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