ASEAN–India Tourism Professionals Exchange Programme 2025 Opens in Guwahati

Waari Singbul Network | 13 November 2025:

Guwahati witnessed the opening of the ASEAN–India Tourism Professionals Exchange Programme 2025 with two days of focused engagement between tourism professionals from India and ten ASEAN Member States. Organised by the Assam Tourism Development Corporation Ltd. (ATDC) under the aegis of the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India, the programme is being held from 12 to 17 December across Guwahati, Kaziranga and New Delhi.

Its purpose is clear and practical: to strengthen regional tourism linkages and place the North East firmly within ASEAN travel circuits through business meetings, trade sessions and sustained professional networks.

The exchange builds on India’s outreach at MATTA Fair 2025 in Kuala Lumpur, where Assam and the North East were presented as emerging destinations during the ASEAN–India Year of Tourism. What was interest on paper is now being tested on the ground, as ASEAN stakeholders experience Assam’s tourism products, infrastructure and community-led models first-hand.

A total of 41 delegates from ASEAN are participating, representing Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor Leste and Vietnam, alongside representatives from Indian tourism associations and regional bodies. The initial sessions combined formal discussions, B2B meetings and curated site visits aimed at building workable partnerships rather than ceremonial ties.

The programme began on 12 December with the arrival of delegates in Guwahati, followed by a sunset cruise on the Brahmaputra that highlighted Assam’s river tourism and community experiences. On 13 December, the formal inauguration at Hotel Mayfair set the tone for structured B2B interactions between tour operators from the North East, the rest of India and ASEAN, concluding with an evening of Assamese music, dance and cuisine.

Addressing the gathering, Shri Pabitra Margherita, Hon’ble Minister of State for External Affairs and Textiles, said the exchange reaffirmed tourism’s role in strengthening regional cooperation and people-to-people ties, adding that collaboration among professionals creates partnerships that endure beyond events. Assam’s Tourism Minister, Shri Ranjeet Kumar Das, noted that the state’s tourism growth is now planned, globally connected and rooted in community participation.

Kumar Padmapani Bora, IRS, Managing Director, ATDC, described the exchange as a decisive step towards converting long-standing cultural links into working tourism partnerships, with emphasis on wildlife, tea heritage and river-based experiences.

The Guwahati leg has set a steady, purposeful tone. As delegates move on to Kaziranga and New Delhi for further consultations, the message is unmistakable: the North East is ready to engage, not as a footnote, but as India’s natural gateway to ASEAN tourism.