Angkor Tops List of 'Most Recommended' World Heritage Sites

A recent UNESCO / Trip advisor Survey reveals Angkor is the most recommended World Heritage site by a quarter millions travellers worldwide and that 72% would do more to help heritage conservation if they knew how. TripAdvisor revealed the results to date of the biggest analysis ever conducted of UNESCO's World Heritage sites around the world. Full story >>

Thai Foreign Minister Speaks for Tourism

A high level Thai delegation, led by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Thailand, Mr. Kasit Piromya, visited UNWTO Headquarters recently to discuss the central role of tourism in the socioeconomic development of Thailand. Mr. Kasit Piromya expressed the high political regard in which Thailand holds tourism, as part of its national image building and development, next to exports or foreign direct investment. "I am very happy to include a stop at the headquarters of UNWTO as part of my visit to Spain because I believe tourism is part and parcel of the Thai economy," he said. Full story >>

Trat Develops Gateway Options to Coastal Cambodia

Road improvements between Thailand's eastern seaboard and southern Cambodia should help to turn Trat province into a gateway to the Mekong Region, Trat Tourism Association president, Charuwan Chintakanont, reported over the weekend. Also, a new Bangkok Airways service, due to launch 2 December, will transfer tourists from Phuket to Trat province for the first time, a move that could lift business prospects for overland travel to Cambodia. Full story >>

 

New International Airport Planned for Southern Vietnam

A plan to develop a new US$6 billion airport serving Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) and southern Vietnam has been submitted by Vietnam's Southern Airports Corporation. By 2015, the country expects to welcome 12 million international arrivals and cater for 28 million domestic travellers, a significant proportion of which will travel to HCMC and the surrounding provinces. The urban location of the Tan Son Nhat airport doesn't allow expanding beyond its current annual capacity of 15 million passengers. Full story >>

Air France in Early 2011 Returning to Phnom Penh Airport

It took some 40 years for a dream to come true again. National French carrier, Air France, has announced that it will fly back to Phnom Penh starting March 27, 2011. From the fifties to the early seventies, Pochentong International Airport regularyl welcomed the flights from Air France, which used to serve the route in the seventies with a Boeing 707. Full story >>

Cambodia Back on Tracks

The first segment of a new international standard railroad officially opened in Cambodia last month – a major step towards the creation of a long-awaited Pan-Asian railroad. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is providing USD $84 million in support of the reconstruction and repair of 650 kilometers (404 miles) of rail stretching from Cambodia's border with Thailand, through the capital city of Phnom Penh, and southward to Sihanoukville, the country's main seaport. Full story >>

 

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Tourism and Biodiversity from Foes to Friends?

In the context of the 10th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity held at Nagoya, UNWTO, hosted a side event on 27 October on "Tourism and biodiversity: how to achieve common goals towards sustainability", which presented the work undertaken by the organization on tourism and biodiversity. The side event, the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) has called on delegates attending the Tenth Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the ... Full Story >>
 

French Development Agency Supports Coastal Hotels Going Green

Kasikornbank and the French Development Agency (AFD) are joining in extending soft loans worth ค30 million (Bt1.25 billion) to coastal hotels for investment in green projects such as wastewater treatment, solid-waste management and energy efficiency. Loans under the Green Accommodation Programme carry an interest rate of 1.50 percentage points below the minimum lending rate, which is now 6 per cent. The credit limit is set at Bt2.5 million to Bt3 million per borrower, with a term of five to seven years. Full story >>

WTTC Urges Greater Collaboration on Climate Change Policies

The world's leading private-sector travel and tourism businesses have urged climate change policymakers at all levels to consult more widely with them. The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) believes that governments continue to mistakenly disparage the industry over greenhouse gas emissions. Full story >>

 

A Unique Business Opportunity in Vientiane Lao PDR

The Lao National Institute of Tourism and Hospitality (LANITH) is seeking a private sector investor to develop and operate a 75 to 100-room, four-star hotel on the academy's prime 3,700-square-metre Mekong riverfront site in downtown Vientiane, the agency reported Wednesday. LANITH will be a modern, purpose-built teaching facility slated for completion in 2012. It is funded by a EUR 8.5 million bilateral development project between the Lao and Luxembourg governments to strengthen human resources in Laos and expand the hospitality and tourism sector. Full story >>


New Booking Site for Lao Tourism

Last month CyberServ Company launched a new travel booking website www.LaoBooking.com that they claim includes nearly all accommodations of the country ranging from guest houses to large sized hotels. It states that every property has been visited by staff so featured photos and descriptions reliably reflect the actual product quality and content. The site will feature a hotel booking service, travel packages, car rental services, travel information and a customer care service which will allow customer to gain assistance online 24 hours a day.

Tap New Markets at www.ExploreMekong.org  MTCO's consumer-facing website www.exploremekong.org will be a key platform for marketing the Mekong region as a premier tourism destination.       Through www.exploremekong.org the MTCO offers Mekong-region tourism stakeholders a valuable opportunity to dabble in online distribution for the first time, or expand upon their existing web-based channels.       Minimum conditions apply for private-sector inclusion in the website's booking engine. Sponsorship and advertising opportunities are also available.       For more information on the marketing opportunities offered by www.exploremekong.org, please email exploremekong@genaresasia.com.     Learn, Share, Engage at www.MekongTourism.org  The MTCO's website at www.mekongtourism.org is quickly developing into an indispensable resource for anyone interested in tourism development: development partners, NGOs, students, teachers, policy makers, and the travel trade.       Bookmark www.mekongtourism.org for convenient access to the proceedings of MTCO's GMS workshops and other resources pertaining to sustainable tourism development, especially the MTCO's priority themes of conservation, poverty alleviation, human resource development, and tourism corridor enhancement.       To contribute your own tourism development news, opinions, and resources to www.mekongtourism.org, please email content@mekongtourism.org.   Go Social with Mekong Tourism Help MTCO tap into and expand its social media networks: Follow "Explore Mekong" on Twitter, join our "Mekong Tourism" groups on Facebook, LinkedIn and Plaxo, and help us represent the GMS on The "Good Tourism" Wiki! TOP