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February 19, 2021: The Asian Ecotourism Network today released its first annual report titled ‘Rethinking Ecotourism” highlighting its efforts to bring together ecotourism constituents and practitioners from across the Asia Pacific region. The report comes after AEN’s virtual Annual General Meeting (AGM) held on January 6, 2021. It features our key achievements in a year overwhelmed by the pandemic that restricted travels and events but boosted networking and collaborations (remotely) across the region as each of us worked from the comfortable corners of our homes across Asia and the Pacific. In a message to our members and partners, the Chairperson, Mr. Masaru Takayama reiterated AEN’s commitment towards achieving sustainability through ecotourism:

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“AEN now brings you what we have achieved in the year 2020, a year that we will never forget and will be told for years to come. In January 2020, the board members kick-started the year by holding a face-to-face ecotourism seminar in Chengdu Xiling Snow Mountain in China. It was so successful that everybody felt the start of a promising year. In fact, having to announce our second Declaration on Climate Change Adaptation and Redefining Ecotourism Seasonality means a lot as we see more seasonal variations and unexpected weather patterns that affect us all as global citizens.

The COVID-19 definitely changed our lifestyle but also affected what we have been planning, the International Ecotourism Travel Mart now rescheduled to be held in 2022, the International Year of Ecotourism plus 20. Amidst these alterations, we acted fast to host a number of on-line seminars commemorating the Earth Day on April 22. These seminars covering new normal prospects as well as the importance of story-telling and training in ecotourism brought many of us together despite the physical distance. AEN is now more interwoven in mind and much more active than ever before.”

 

With 17 member countries and growing, AEN is a regional initiative of the Global Ecotourism Network (GEN), sharing a common mission to connect and network for sustainability.

 

We are based in Thailand and thankful with the initial support of the Designated Areas for Sustainable Tourism Administration (DASTA), a Thai Public Organization until we gained the legal not-for-profit entity.

 

Setting a common standard of sustainable tourism in the region, AEN is now the authorized training partner of the Global Sustainable Tourism Council’s (GSTC) Sustainable Tourism Training Program (STTP).

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You can download the AEN Annual Report 2020 here:

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