1. The Fifteenth Meeting of the ASEAN Plus Three (China, Japan, and the Republic of Korea) Tourism Ministers was held on 22 January 2016 in Manila, the Philippines, in conjunction with the Nineteenth Meeting of ASEAN Tourism Ministers (M-ATM) and the ASEAN Tourism Forum (ATF) 2016. The Meeting was co-chaired by H.E. Ramon R. Jimenez, Jr., Secretary of Tourism of the Philippines and H.E. Mr. Kim Chong, Vice Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism of the Republic of Korea. The Meeting was preceded by the Twenty-Eighth Meeting of ASEAN Plus Three (APT) NTOs held on 20 January 2016.
2. The Ministers were pleased with the growth of the APT region’s tourism industry in 2015. The APT region welcomed 250.9 million internationals visitors, an increase of 7.1% from 2014. The Ministers noted that the APT region remained the main source of tourism growth in the region, accounting for 67% of the total international visitor arrivals in 2014.
