Yogyakarta, Feb. 4 -- Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Sandiaga Salahuddin Uno is optimistic that tourism in ASEAN would continue to grow through support from improvement of human resources and MSMEs to be able to face global economic challenges.

The growth in international tourist visits in 2022 reflects strong recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, he remarked while opening the 26th Meeting of the ASEAN Tourism Ministers-ASEAN Tourism Forum (ATF) 2023 here Saturday.

According to Uno, the latest data from the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) shows that 900 million more tourists had undertaken international travel in 2022, thereby indicating a two-fold increase as compared to that in 2021.

While the travel rate has increased, this...