Attending the Forum were Tourism Ministers of member countries of the "Ayeyawady - Chao Phraya - Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy" (ACMECS) cooperation frame work (including the Kingdom of Cambodia, the Lao People's Democratic Republic, the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, the Kingdom of Thailand and the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam), the representatives of tourism industry, International Organizations, the Civil Society and international experts,

The Ministers acknowledged the significant development of tourism in the ACMECS region in 2015 with 52 million international tourists and 8.8 million intra-regional tourists, increasing by 17% and 8% respectively Compared to the numbers of 2014; and emphasized possible environmental and Social challenges during the development process. The Ministers also recognized that responsible tourism can play a significant role in the Community empowerment which importantly Contributes to the Socio-economic development, especially in remote and rural areas of the ACMECS countries, and were conscious that responsible tourism takes many forms by different stakeholders and can only be realized with the Concrete responsibilities of all stakeholders, from the governments, private sector, civil society, professionals, media and each individual, including visitors. The other participants also joined the Tourism Ministers in exchange of Opinions.

The ACMECS Tourism Ministers agreed to issue the ACMECS Ministerial Declaration on Responsible Tourism to reaffirm the ACMECS tourism sector's commitment to responsible, sustainable, inclusive and balanced tourism development; strengthen responsible tourism policy framework; enhance information and experience exchanges, create adequate conditions for a responsible use of Cultural and natural assets for tourism product development; encourage education, training as well as specially-tailored Capacity-building; promote and support Socio-economic advancement of vulnerable groups through responsible tourism; and promote the Cooperation between the public and private sector with the involvement of international and non-governmental organizations./.