Published on : Friday, June 1, 2018
In addition to natural disasters, slow-paced disruption such as climate change and global warming are another challenge to tourism in ASEAN countries.
There is a serious sea level rise can lead to land loss and flooding. There is increasing evidence that such global problems are affecting Southeast Asian regions.
According to the Ocean Conservancy NGO in the United States, Southeast Asia countries such as Indonesia, Philippines, and Vietnam are known to be top plastic pollution countries. Trash is worst during the annual monsoon season when strong winds push marine flotsam on to the beach and overflowing rivers wash rubbish from the riverbank to the coast. Last December, Bali declared a garbage emergency.
The stakeholders in travel and tourism industries of the countries like Indonesia, Jakarta, Thailand and India have raised concerns about the impact of natural disasters on their policies and practices.
The environmental protection and climate change mitigation have been part of the ASEAN strategic plan 2016-2025, specifically in developing green standards and product development. It seeks to provide policy guidelines and knowledge on climate change adaptation and resilience to climate change entities to ensure ASEAN tourism remains sustainable and inclusive.
The target plan is to prepare and implement a manual of guidelines for incorporating environment and climate change mitigation, adaptation, and resilience by 2025.
In disaster management, ASEAN countries already have an agreement on Disaster Management and Emergency Response which came into force in 2009. The agreement with the motto “One ASEAN one response” set the foundation for regional cooperation, coordination and resource mobilization in all aspect of disaster management and emergency response.
In the tourism industry, the hotel resilient initiatives provide guidance to strengthen disaster resilience for hotels. The programme piloting in Indonesia, Myanmar, the Philippines, and Thailand, for instance, with certification, are focusing on larger properties, with a more guidance-oriented approach for small hotels.