BEIJING, Aug. 26 -- Tourism officials from across Asia will meet for the 8th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) tourism meeting in Macao Special Administrative Region on Sept. 13.

Ministers and representatives from 21 APEC members and three observing members will attend the biennial meeting this year, Li Shihong, an official with the China National Tourism Administration, said during the announcement on Tuesday.

They will be joined by members from the World Tourism Organization and the World Travel &Tourism Council.

China holds this year's chair for APEC, which is a forum for 21 Pacific Rim economies that seeks to promote free trade and economic cooperation.

Before the official gathering, Macao will host a seminar for the APEC Tourism Working Group, Li said.

The event was arranged ahead of the upcoming APEC summit in Beijing, which begins in November.

The tourism forum was first hosted in Seoul, the capital city of the Republic of Korea, in July 2000.