ASEAN is enriched with attractive tourism destinations that include renowned resorts in breathtaking natural surroundings and historical places that are designated as World Heritage sites.
Additionally, thanks to little time difference with Japan, ASEAN countries are popular destinations for Japanese tourists as one can casually enjoy overseas travel. As a result, more than 3.7 million Japanese tourists visit ASEAN nations per year. Since tourism is an important industry to ASEAN, various promotional activities are being implemented such as upgrading hotels and Japanese-language training for tour guides, to improve the quality of service in the countries and to entice more tourists to the region.
Meanwhile, tourists from ASEAN member states marked 1.1 million in 2012 and the number is expected to increase.