Southeast Asia Wants to Copy Europe’s Visa-Free Travel
Photo Credit: Southeast Asia wants to emulate the European Union's model for visa-free travel and Open Skies. Pictured are (left) Arun Mishra, regional director of the International Civil Aviation Organization and Wanda Teo, Secretary of Tourism for the Philippines, speaking at the World Travel & Tourism Council Global Summit in Bangkok on April 27, 2017. Flickr / World Travel & Tourism Council
Skift Take
Southeast Asian countries have a grand vision for visa-free travel, massive infrastructure projects and more airline competition to grow route networks. However, too much bureaucracy and political unrest stand in the way for this to become a reality in the near-term.
Southeast Asia's tourism industry is looking to Europe's models of visa-free travel and Open Skies to boost their own travel and tourism prospects despite isolationist rhetoric and policies playing out elsewhere.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), a 10-member political and economic alliance for a population of 645.8 million people, which is larger than the European Union, wants a single visa policy for the region and improved Open Skies agreements with airlines.
A single visa for ASEAN countries is already in the works and could come as soon as later this year or 2018, said Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul, Thailand's Minister of Tourism and Sports "We plan to start this between Thailand and Cambodia," she said. "There have been some issues, not concerning security, but because we give free visas to some countries but [they don't reciprocate with Thailand]."
As millions of people across the region gain more disposable income for travel, tourism officials view overhau
