Tourism officials from four Southeast Asian countries met in Yangon on Saturday to discuss ways of working together to promote tourism in the Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam (CLMV) region.

Topics discussed during the two-day “Four Countries, One Destination” conference included increasing cooperation in the tourism sector, promoting regional travel agents, flight connections, human resource development and drawing more investment to the CLMV region, according to Heng Sochamroeurn, deputy cabinet director of the Tourism Ministry.

Ho Vandy, secretary-general of the Cambodia National Tourism Alliance, said that conference would help promote CLMV as a single destination. However, to reap the economic rewards of a growing tourism industry, he said the focus should be on private sector collaboration.

“In order to achieve a CLMV policy, we need cooperation from the private sector,” Vandy said. “The private sector can play an important role in advertising tour packages in the region.”

He also advocated that the countries should strive to adopt a single-visa policy for international arrivals, similar to what ASEAN members enjoy under the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC).

“A single visa mechanism would encourage international tourists to travel more easily across the four countries and would promote economic growth in the region,” he said.