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In this issue:
Heritage Site Skills to be Boosted
Projects Identified for Development
Wartime 'Cave City' to be Opened
Mekong Briefing at Thailand Travel Mart
Yong to Address Mekong Institute
Guangxi Hosts MTO
Mekong Tourism Boom Forecast to Continue
Vietnamese Stability & Growth
Cambodian Investment, Trade & Infrastructure Conference
Highway Upgrade
About the Mekong Tourism Office
Heritage Site Skills to
be Boosted
The MTO and UNESCAP will use funds pledged by the French government to
improve management of heritage sites in the Mekong region. The MTO aims
to run the first 'train the trainers' heritage site workshop by January.
The objective is to enhance onsite management skills to better preserve
and present historical and natural sites. The MTO and UNESCAP will call
for bids from consultancy firms qualified to train site managers and
local trainers. A workshop for current and future site managers and
trainers will be held in each of the Mekong destinations. MTO Executive
Director, Mr Stephen Yong (pictured), said: "It's imperative that we choose
heritage site managers and local trainers who are ready to take their
skills to the next level. Workshop attendees should be enthusiastic,
motivated and have good communication skills -- in English and their own
language."
UNESCO Web site.
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Projects
Identified for Development
The Inception Workshop for the ADB Sustainable Tourism Development
Technical Assistance initiative was held in Kunming July 3. The meeting
was attended by representatives from the national and provincial tourism
offices of Cambodia, China, Lao PDR and Vietnam. The meeting identified
a series of public sector tourism projects in the four countries that
would be evaluated for a US$30-80 million ADB loan package for
implementation between 2008 and 2012. The ADB project team will
undertake field evaluations of the projects in Cambodia, Lao PDR and
Vietnam from July 4 to August 6. It will then work in the MTO office in
Bangkok August 6-12 to prepare an interim report. During the mission to
each country, the project team will hold consultations with project
stakeholders, visit up to 11 project sites, and undertake a national
workshop with stakeholders to provide feedback and ideas on the proposed
projects.
ADB Web
site.
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Wartime 'Cave
City' to be Opened
Nestled in the Annamite mountain range 300km southwest of Hanoi is the
small and very picturesque district of Viengxay in Lao PDR. For years
the town's stunning limestone karst scenery with its network of more
than 200 caves has retained an untold piece of world history.
Full story.
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Mekong Briefing
at Thailand Travel Mart
A full-day briefing on tourism in the Mekong region will take place
September 26 on the eve of the Thailand Travel Mart in Bangkok. Buyers,
sellers and media will be invited to hear about the latest marketing
initiatives, hotel, airline and tour developments in the seven
destinations. There will be updates on border checkpoints, visas and
regulatory issues affecting tourism prospects in the region. "The
purpose is to educate buyers and sellers on the great tourism potential
of the Mekong countries," said MTO Executive Director, Mr Stephen Yong.
"We particularly want to open the eyes of the private sector to the many
new opportunities to bring tourists here, and for investment and
growth."
TTM Web site.
TAT Web site.
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Yong to Address
Mekong Institute
MTO Executive Director Mr Stephen Yong will give a presentation entitled
"The Regional Impact of Tourism in the GMS" at the Mekong Institute in Khon
Kaen, Northeast Thailand on July 25. The Mekong Institute, a regional
organization, delivers education and training in priority GMS activities
such as tourism. The French embassy in Bangkok is funding scholarships
for the "Tourism: A Regional Approach to Development" course which runs
July 24 to August 18 at the Institute.
The Mekong Institute Web site.
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Guangxi
Hosts MTO
MTO Executive Director Mr Stephen Yong visited Guangxi Tourism
Administration office July 4 & 5. GTA officials accompanied Mr Yong on
educational visits to tourism sites and updated him on the latest GTA
marketing initiatives. It was the first formal meeting between the MTO
and the GMS's newest destination.
GTA Web site.
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Mekong Tourism
Boom Forecast to Continue
Forecasters believe that the strong current growth in international
visitor arrivals to the Mekong region will continue to at least 2008.
Between 2006 and 2008 the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA)
predicts especially strong growth to Cambodia of 36%. The comparative
numbers for other destinations for the same two-year period are: Lao PDR
27%, Vietnam 26%, Myanmar 23% and Thailand 15%. Thailand will remain the
Mekong region's tourism powerhouse for the foreseeable future with 15.1
million arrivals expected in 2008. This compares with a much more modest
figures of 5 million for Vietnam, 2.3 million for Cambodia, 1.7 million
for Lao PDR and 0.3 million for Myanmar. Forecasts for the provinces of
Guangxi and Yunnan in China are not yet available.
PATA
Web site.
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Vietnamese
Stability & Growth
A leading international business intelligence firm predicts that Vietnam
is on target to double its year 2000 GDP levels by 2010, a trend that
will bolster the country's fledgling domestic travel sector. Vietnam, it
says, is likely to enter the World Trade Organization by late 2006. Of
all the Mekong region countries the firm's analysts assessed Vietnam as
the least vulnerable to short-term political instability. On the tourism
side, PATA statistics show that international visitor arrivals to
Vietnam for the first five months this year grew 12% to 1.58 million,
compared to same period last year. Vietnam is targeting 3.7 million
tourists this year, an increase of 15%.
VNAT Web site.
PATA
Web site.
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Cambodian
Investment, Trade & Infrastructure Conference
Bangkok-based business intelligence company, Dataconsult, plans to
convene the fifth "Cambodia Investment, Trade & Infrastructure
Conference" in Phnom Penh in June 2007. A sponsorship proposal and draft
agenda will be circulated by Dataconsult to interested parties in the
next few weeks. The inaugural Conference, took place in Phnom Penh in
1996, and the 4th event, in November 2005, was opened by Prime Minister
Hun Sen and attracted over 300 delegates. IMF statistics show that
Cambodia's GDP grew by 13% in 2005, up from 6% in 2004. Conference
information:
info@dataconsult.co.th. Tel: (66-2) 233-5606/7.
Cambodia MOT Web site.
Dataconsult Web site.
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Highway Upgrade
National Highway No. 2 in Cambodia which links An Giang
province of Vietnam to Takeo province in Cambodia opened to traffic on
April 26 after a US$13 million upgrade, 95% of it funded by Japan.
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About the
Mekong Tourism Office
The MTO was established in February 2006. Its four key objectives are
to:-
-
Develop and promote the Mekong as a
single destination, offering a diversity of good quality and
high-yielding sub-regional products that help to distribute the
benefits of tourism more widely
-
Add to the tourism development efforts of
each GMS country
-
Contribute to poverty reduction, gender
equality the empowerment of women
-
Promote sustainable development, while
minimising adverse impacts.
Contact Point
Mekong Tourism Office
Mr Stephen Yong, Executive Director
5th Floor, Office of Tourism Development, Ministry of Tourism & Sports
154 Rama I Road, National Stadium, Bangkok 10330, Thailand
Tel: (66-2) 612-4150/1. Fax: (66-2) 612-4152.
E-mail:
info@MekongTourism.org. Website:
www.MekongTourism.org.
Media enquiries:
media@MekongTourism.org.
Abbreviations
ADB (Asian Development Bank); GMS (Greater Mekong Subregion); IMF
(International Monetary Fund);
MTO (Mekong Tourism Office); SNV (Netherlands Development Organization);
STEP (Sustainable Tourism Eliminating Poverty); UNESCAP (United Nations
Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific); UNWTO (United
Nations World Tourism Organization).
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