It is an opportunity for the province to strengthen the promotion of its cultural identity and tourism offerings to regional and international partners.
The ATF 2026 officially opened on the evening of November 28 at the Mactan Shrine in Cebu City, the Philippines, under the theme “Navigating Our Tourism Future, Together.” The forum focuses on sustainable recovery and digital transformation in the tourism sector, bringing together leaders and representatives from ASEAN member states, as well as a large number of international experts, businesses, and media organizations.
Within the framework of ATF 2026, the TRAVEX is regarded as the largest tourism trade activity in the region, bringing together more than 500 tourism service providers from ASEAN countries, along with hundreds of businesses, guests, and international media representatives. The TRAVEX is expected to facilitate over 10,000 B2B business appointments, focusing on enterprise networking, product showcasing, and emerging trends such as sustainable tourism, MICE tourism, and Southeast Asia’s distinctive heritage tourism offerings.
At Travex 2026, Vietnam has identified the event as a key promotional platform, mounting a large-scale national pavilion under the message “Vietnam—Timeless Charm.” The pavilion highlights the country’s new visa policies, expanded international air routes, strengthened cultural connectivity, and a range of flagship tourism products aimed at priority international markets.
Participating in promotional activities at Vietnam’s national pavilion, organized by the Vietnam National Authority of Tourism, Gia Lai Province, focuses on introducing unique tourism products associated with the cultural identity of the Central Highlands and its sustainable green ecosystems. The province also showcased OCOP products and signature local specialties such as coffee, conical hats, Cho Huyen fermented pork rolls, coconut rice paper, cashew nuts, and pepper, drawing strong interest from international partners and businesses.
Alongside trade promotion at the fair, on the afternoon of January 29, a Gia Lai delegation led by Vice Chairwoman of the provincial People’s Committee, Nguyen Thi Thanh Lich, is scheduled to hold working sessions with representatives of CNN and Agoda to discuss solutions to strengthen international promotion of the National Tourism Year—Gia Lai 2026. The delegation will also attend thematic seminars and press briefings hosted by national tourism authorities from Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, and Malaysia, with the aim of learning from regional experience and expanding cooperation with travel industry partners.
According to leaders of the Gia Lai Department of Culture, Sports, and Tourism, the working trip to the Philippines is regarded as an important preparatory step, enabling the province to study models for organizing regional and international tourism events. On this occasion, provincial leaders also extended an invitation to regional partners to attend the National Tourism Year 2026, which will be hosted by Gia Lai.
