10-Year PlanTo Promote Tourism In Southeast Asia

Southeast Asian tourism ministers have launched a 10-year plan to ramp up marketing of their region as a single destination to raise tourism's share of the regional economy to 15 percent by 2025.

The ministers from the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations also announced Friday that they will begin a "Visit ASEAN@50" campaign to mark the 50th anniversary of the regional group next year. The campaign will showcase hundreds of ASEAN tourism products, events and experiences and target people within and outside the region.

Tourism accounted for 12.3 percent of ASEAN's GDP in 2013 with 102.2 million tourist arrivals. ASEAN says the number of tourists rose to 105 million in 2014.