The annual tourism forum, aiming to promote the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region as a single tourist destination, closed here Friday.

The 26th ASEAN Tourism Forum, which opened on Monday, comprised the meetings of ASEAN 10 members' tourism ministers, industry associations and dialogue partners, as well as a travel mart.

Key outcome of the forum included strengthening integration in the region, with focus on increasing connectivity and liberalizing travel barriers to facilitate easy cross-border intra-ASEAN travel, as well as making it convenient for visitors to travel into and within ASIAN, Lim Neo Chian, chief executive of the Singapore Tourism Board, said at the closing ceremony.

More than 1,700 delegates including government officials, buyers, sellers and reporters from over 50 countries and regions participated in this year's forum, according to the organizers.

Last year, tourist arrivals to ASEAN, which groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, reached 56 million, 8 percent higher than in 2005.

Thailand will host the next year's ASEAN Tourism Forum.

Source: Xinhua