Some 500 political leaders and tourist professionals gathered in this famous tourist city in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, south China, for Boao Forum for Asia -- Tourism Conference, a major Asia-wide tourist forum.

P. Ramanujam, secretary of the Sri Lankan Ministry of Tourism, said that Western travelers have reduced their long-distance tourism due to the Sept. 11 terrorist incident and the global economic downturn, resulting in reduction of tourist sources for Asia.

In response, Asian countries and regions should enhance inter-regional cooperation for tapping customer resources within the Asian continent, he said.

In the first three months of the year, Sri Lanka received more tourists from neighboring countries, such as India and Malaysia, indicating the importance of regional cooperation. He particularly mentioned the agreements signed between Sri Lanka and China relating to promoting one another as tourist destinations.

Kirti Nidhi Bista, the former Nepalese prime minister, said that the number of travelers from Western countries had drastically declined after the Sept. 11 incident. However, several thousand Chinese tourists come to Nepal a year, which indicates that such cooperation is conducive to the common development of Asian tourism.

German Porras, president and chairman of the European Travel Commission, said that the economic recession and terrorism will have a negative impact on the recovery of long-distance tourism in the long run. He agreed that cooperation in short-distance tourism will become a new growth focus for Asia.

To woo short-distance tourists, he said, host countries or regions should create a fine image, continuously develop and promote new products and coordinate with intermediate agencies.

It will take time for travelers to regain confidence in long-distance tourism, he said.

He suggested that forum participants take advantage of the opportunities provided by the forum to discuss concrete cooperation in short-distance tourism, such as information sharing and training for senior travel executives.

(Xinhua News Agency November 19, 2002)