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In this issue:
TWG Development and Marketing Shift into High Gear
Myanmar Tourism Update
UN World Cultural Heritage Sites Seminar at Khon Kaen
'Economic Impacts of Tourism' Workshops in Vietnam
Saving Western Thailand's Wild Elephants
Hotel Training Institute Opens in South Thailand
New Publications
Online Responsible Tourism Course Scholarships Available
Mali to Host International 'Solidarity-based Tourism' Forum
About the
Mekong Tourism Office
TWG Development and Marketing Shift into High Gear
Mekong tourism planners discussed a wide range of topics during the
21st Tourism Working Group (TWG) meeting last month in Sihanoukville, Cambodia, including; plans for four priority workshops, the Visit Mekong
2010 marketing plan and rotating the MTCO among member countries.
The Cambodia Ministry of Tourism hosted the meeting chaired by
Tith Chantha (pictured left), Deputy Director General, Ministry of Tourism, Cambodia.
MTCO Development Project Coordinator, Ms Christine Jacquemin, presented plans for launching priority projects
between May-December 2008, including holding 4 sub regional workshops on:
1. Tourism and biodiversity in Bangkok, 17-18 september
2. Pro-poor tourism with a focus on public-private partnerships in Lao PDR, 3-4 october
3. HRD vocational training course for SME's in Cambodia 30-31st october
4. Scenic corridors along the East-West Economic Corridor in Vietnam mid november.
*Dates are provisional
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| Cambodia tourism representatives |
The workshops are designed to define the projects' scopes and
objectives in coordination with main actors and specialists in each country, including the private sector; create respective task forces to
follow up the projects; develop conclusions and draft proposals for the consideration/approval of the Task Forces; finalize detailed proposals
to be submitted to donors; and organize a donors' conference to submit projects proposals.
Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of France are providing some funding support.
On the marketing side, MTCO Senior Advisor, Peter Semone, outlined marketing plans leading up to the Explore Mekong campaign, including a new consumer website at
www.ExploreMekong.org and a new campaign logo with the "Explore Mekong" brand name.
Due to be launched later this year, the website is part of a wider promotional campaign that will seek to enlist support from
the private sector.
The Tourism Working Group representatives recommended that the site of the MTCO office should be rotated and
Representatives from Laos offered to host the office as early as 2009. Currently Thailand hosts the Mekong Tourism Coordinating Office in
Bangkok, through the Ministry of Tourism and Sports, which provides free office space and utilities. The TWG will discuss the issue further
and decide at its next meeting later this year.
MTCO website. TWG-21
Meeting Summary (12.36 MB compressed file).
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Myanmar Tourism Update
Myanmar Tourism executives are asking the international travel trade
to support the country's recovery after Cyclone Nargis by resuming tour programmes as soon as possible.
Union of Myanmar Travel Association Secretary/CEO, Hpone Thant (Harry), represented the Myanmar tourism industry at the
recent TTM+ in Bangkok. "Tourist destinations such as Bagan, Mandalay and Inle Lake were untouched by the storm, so tourist activities in
those areas are operating normally," he told TTR Weekly. The association has set up a new website, www.umtanet.org, to provide
information to the travel industry, including contact details for making financial donations to help cyclone survivors.
Mr Harry said the newly organized Myanmar Marketing Committee will join overseas trade shows to get the message out that
tourists could return to Myanmar.
A Bangkok-based tour operator, Vega Travel, estimated that tourism to Burma had dropped 60 percent following the cyclone,
reports Irrawaddy News, Chiang Mai. The drop in tourism has caused airlines to cancel services, holiday hotels to close and travel
companies to lay off staff.
UMTA website.
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UN World Cultural Heritage Sites Seminar at Khon Kaen
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| Dr Suchart Katima, MI Director (on left), and Jean-Louis Vignuda, UNESCAP Transport & Tourism
Division |
The Mekong Institute (MI) in Khon Kaen, Thailand, last month hosted a
regional tourism seminar.
The two-day "Training-of-Trainers on Cultural Tourism Sites Management and Guiding" funded by the French government was
organized by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), United Nations
Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the Macao Institute for Tourism Studies and MI.
In the Asia-Pacific region, there are 174 World Heritage Sites, many of which have become major tourism destinations and
potential engines for growth, particularly in rural and underdeveloped areas. The impact of tourism at these sites has been both positive and
negative, resulting in increased employment opportunities and revenues, but also greater pressure on the sites and the surrounding
communities.
In 2006, UNESCAP launched a technical project designed to strengthen the teaching capacity in cultural tourism sites
management of the six countries in GMS, through the provision of a training manual for trainers and the conduct of national workshops. The
project is financially supported by the Government of France.
MTCO Development Project Coordinator, Ms Christine Jacquemin, participated in the event along with government
representatives, university deans organizing tourism programs, from the six GMS countries and UN officials involved in tourism human resources
development. They discussed the impact of the UNESCAP project and the effectiveness of its training manual.
UNESCO Bangkok website. MI
website.
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'Economic Impacts of Tourism' Workshops in Vietnam
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| Attendees working on group project during tourism workshop |
Balancing the economic, environmental and social impacts of tourism
was the underlying agenda of two five-day "Economic Impacts of Tourism" workshops held recently in the beachside resort of Lang Co in Central
Vietnam and the mountain retreat of Dalat in Southern Vietnam. Senior representatives of Vietnam's 64 provincial tourism offices were in
attendance.
Recognizing the huge challenges that many of Vietnam's provinces will face as tourism continues to boom, the Vietnam National
Administration for Tourism (VNAT), in collaboration with the European Union Human Resource Development Project organized the workshops
conducted by international tourism expert, Mr Peter Semone.
"Understanding how tourism contributes to a destination's economic growth and prosperity is essential for good public and
private sector planning and management," Mr Semone said. "Travel and tourism will grow to new heights in the 21st century as it becomes more
accessible to a larger cross section of the global population. This will result in commensurate economic opportunities for developed and
emerging destinations around the world," he added.
In Vietnam, tourism has been growing at an annual rate of 10 percent and is expected to continue to do so in the foreseeable
future.
VNAT website. Peter Semone's
tourism blog.
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Saving Western Thailand's Wild Elephants
Go visit the Elephant Conservation Network (ECN), a community-linked conservation initiative in Kanchanaburi,
west Thailand, one of the rare genuine ecotourism operations in Thailand. are seeking subscribers to their revamped e-mail newsletter, the
Salakpra Trumpeter.
ECN works with local people and forest rangers to tackle the dual challenges of elephant conservation and human-elephant
conflict in the Salakpra Elephant Ecosystem -- part of the Western Forest Conservation Complex. The area is Thailand's most extensive tract of
protected forest and home to its largest surviving population of wild elephants. Newsletter subscribers receive occasional updates about ECN
efforts to conserve elephant habitat, as well as news about ECN events.
ECN website and subscribe to their
revamped e-mail newsletter, the Salakpra Trumpeter to support them.
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Hotel Training Institute Opens in South Thailand
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| Beluga unique guest houses overlooking swimming pool |
The new Hotel Training Institute Beluga School for Life Phang-Nga
opened this month for Thai students aspiring to a career in the hotel business. The school provides vocational education in the areas of front
office, housekeeping, food & beverage and cookery.
Trainees receive practical experience starting at the school's own guest houses, as well as hotels and resorts in the region.
The Beluga School for Life was founded three years ago in the South of Thailand on a former coconut plantation surrounded by jungle 30
kilometres from Khao Lak. The charity project gives victims of the tsunami and children of the poor a new home and a new perspective for the
future. Currently 130 children and 80 adults live in the small community. The aims of the project are to provide shelter to children from
different backgrounds, guarantee a high-class education and empower children for socio- and eco-entrepreneurship.
Beluga School for Life
website.
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NEW PUBLICATIONS |
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'Transforming - Re-Forming Tourism'
The Ecumenical Coalition on Tourism (ECOT) recently published Transforming Re-Forming Tourism. Subtitled
perspectives on justice and humanity in tourism, the book includes insights of 30 authors from around the world reflecting their particular
experience in tourism, but from the aspects of the vulnerable.
Founded in 1982 in response to the profound impact of tourism on third world communities, ECOT works in collaboration with
religious and secular groups to unite people around collective efforts that promote socially, ecologically and ethically responsible tourism.
ECOT website.
Updated FFI Nature Tourism Map of Vietnam
Fauna & Flora International's nature tourism map of Vietnam is a colourful and informative guide to wild Vietnam.
It includes the locations of the country's national parks and reserves and offers species profiles, tips on how to view wildlife and
guidelines on how to be a responsible tourist.
Outdoor enthusiasts will find the inset maps of protected areas showing topography, trails and other points of interests
particularly useful. Proceeds of all sales go to support FFI's conservation work around the world, which includes primate conservation in
Vietnam.
FFI Mekong Region rep email. FFI
website.
The Good Tourist in Thailand E-Guide
TheGoodTourist promotes responsible travel by
producing digital guides for travellers who like to make better choices when they travel. The guides include advice about how to
respect people and culture at the destination, how to contribute to the local economy and how to protect the environment. As many
people like to be "good" tourists but may find it hard to know how, the aim of TheGoodTourist is to give needed information and
specific advice for specific countries, and an e-guide about Thailand is the first published, with others to come. The guide is an
important complement to traditional guides for all travellers who would like to make a difference.
TheGoodTourist website.
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Online 'Responsible Tourism'
Course Scholarships Available
Spanish NGO Turismo Responsible is conducting an online course on responsible tourism in collaboration with the Universitat Oberta de
Catalunya (UOC) Costs is Euro 100. There are 12 scholarships available for participants. For more information contact Carles Tuduri at
ctuduri@turismojusto.org.
Turismo Responsible website.
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Mali to Host International 'Solidarity-based Tourism' Forum
The 3rd International Forum on Solidarity-based Tourism and sustainable development will be held October 20-22, 2008 in Bamako, Mali
consecutively to the SITOUR (International tourism fair of Mali) 15-18th October.
The FITS is initiated by NGOs, with support of the French government, especially the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the
Ministry of Tourism. This international meeting on fair and responsible tourism organized every other year aims at putting solidarity-based
operators in touch with private sector and network interested in their commercialization.
FITS attendees include administrations involved in the development of responsible tourism, international and bilateral
organizations and private sector that provide development support and "fair tourism" networks and stakeholders from around the world.
Objectives include:
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Heightening governments awareness of fair tourism
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Exchanging and debating the stakes of fair tourism within the context of sustainable development
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Exchanging experiences
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Networking local operators in contact with organisations from issuing countries.
FITS
website.
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About the
Mekong Tourism Coordinating Office
The MTO was established in February 2006. Its four key objectives are
to:-
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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
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Add to the tourism development efforts of
each GMS country
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Contribute to poverty reduction, gender
equality and the empowerment of women
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Promote sustainable development, while
minimising adverse impacts.
Contact Point
Mekong Tourism Coordinating Office
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); EU (European Union); GMS (Greater Mekong
Subregion); IMF (International Monetary Fund); MTCO (Mekong Tourism
Coordinating Office); 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); UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific
and Cultural Organization); UNWTO (United Nations World Tourism
Organization).
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