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In this issue:
GMS Tourism Working Group Offers Full Support to Myanmar
GMS Tourism Working Group Meeting in Cambodia
The Vietnam Tourism Network has Returned
Vietnam's Travel Sector Updated on European Source Markets
Mekong Tourism Office Supports PATA Challenge
'Explore Mekong' Campaign Presented at Skal Bangkok
CBT-I Thailand Pilot Programme Moves Forward
Vietnam Hosts Asia-Pacific Forestry Week
PATA Foundation Offers Six Scholarships to GMS NTO Staff
Master of Management Program in Tourism and Hospitality Open House
Golden Tulips Blossoming Throughout Asia
About the
Mekong Tourism Office
GMS Tourism Working Group Offers Full Support to Myanmar
On behalf of the entire GMS Tourism Working Group, we would like to
express our condolences to the people of Myanmar for the damage and suffering caused by cyclone Nargis. The Director of Development of the
Mekong Tourism Coordinating Office, Christine Jacquemin, said, "The GMS Tourism Working Group, through the Mekong Tourism (Coordinating)
Office, stands ready to assist Myanmar's Directorate of Hotels and Tourism (a member organisation of the Mekong Tourism (Coordinating)
Office."
Ms Jacquemin added "In terms of human relief, while we are not equipped to assist directly, we can recommend a number of
programmes worth supporting."
Peter Semone, Senior Advisor of the Mekong Tourism Office wants to avoid any dip in demand for tours to Myanmar. "From a
marketing perspective, the key will be to ensure continued and steady tourism demand to the country. As it stands today, tourism represents an
important source of income for many communities in Myanmar. By sustaining current levels of tourism demand, at least we can ensure that
tourism workers are still earning incomes."
The Myanmar Ministry of Hotel and Tourism and tour operators report that the country's main tourism locations in central and
northern Myanmar were unaffected by the cyclone. Click
here to read a special update from the
Myanmar Ministry of Hotels and Tourism.
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GMS Tourism Working Group Meeting in Cambodia
The 21st GMS Tourism Working Group (TWG) and Mekong Tourism Development Project meeting is being held May 20-21 at the Sokha Hotel and Resort,
Sihanoukville, Cambodia.
Hosted by the Ministry of Tourism of Cambodia, the event is being held in conjunction with the 5th Working Group on tourism
Development Cooperation in the Emerald Triangle -- Cambodia, Lao PDR and Thailand.
Emerald Triangle tourism ministers will discuss topics, including:
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International Border Checkpoints
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Human Resource Development
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Emerald Triangle Tourism Promotion
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Adoption of the Emerald Triangle Logo
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Infrastructure and Tourism Facility Development
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Community Participation
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The Vietnam Tourism Network has Returned
Thirteen development agencies participated in the Vietnam Tourism
Network meeting last month in Hanoi. Organized by MTCO Project Coordinator, Christine Jacquemin (pictured), the main objective was to
re-launch the network which had not met in nearly two years.
Asian Development Bank (ADB) Vietnam Resident Mission provided logistic support and their Country Director, Ayumi Konishi
opened the meeting. Each organization attending were able to present its tourism activities and projects.
Ms Jacquemin explained the role of the MTCO and presented the GMS Tourism Strategy and 2008-10 action plan. She also
announced the organization of four MTCO workshops to take place this year. The workshop subjects are:
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Public Private Partnerships to optimize benefits to local
populations
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Vocational training for SMEs
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Developing training programs and models for ecotourism development
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Transforming economic corridors into tourist routes.
These workshops are part of the GMS tourism development action plan
approved by the Prime Ministers of the GMS countries during the third GMS summit in Vientiane (March 08), and will be the first step in the
elaboration of detailed project proposals. The four workshops will be sponsored by France Regional Cooperation center, and ADB as part of the
GMS Tourism Strategy implementation.
"It was a very fruitful meeting and participants expressed the desire to see it renewed maybe twice a year," Ms Jacquemin
said. "It enabled some to make connections with potential partner organizations and be aware of other projects taking place in Vietnam."
"The exchange of information enable participating members to develop synergies; complement actions of one another; as well as simply keeping
informed of what is being done in Viet Nam and the subregion," she added.
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Vietnam's Travel Sector Updated on European Source Markets
More than 150 representatives of the Vietnam travel and tourism
industry attended a series of seminars about three "European Source Markets" -- Benelux, France and Scandinavia. The seminars were held last
month in Hanoi, Danang and Ho Chi Minh City.
The seminars included a presentation, by MTO Senior Advisor, Peter Semone, on Vietnam in the Asian context in which Vietnam
tourism competitiveness was benchmarked against other leading Asian tourism destinations. Market expert presenters from Europe presented
information on the three source markets.
Co-director of the Vietnam Human Resource Development Project, Jozef Van Doorn said, "The seminars were well attended and
successful as they filled a huge gap in knowledge and experience of these important and emerging European markets".
Funded by the European Union, this was the second of a three year series of European tourism market seminars. In 2007,
Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom were the feature markets; and in 2009 it is planned that Italy, Russia and Switzerland will be
presented.
For more information, please contact Project
Information Officer, Tran Khanh Hung at the Vietnam Human Resources Development in Tourism Project, Kim Lien Hotel 2, Hanoi. Tel: 84.4 -
5770663 ext 16, Fax: 84.4 - 5770665.
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Mekong Tourism Office Supports PATA Challenge
Delegates at last month's the inaugural PATA CEO Challenge 2008: Confronting Climate Change agreed to collaborate
on a range of initiatives to confront climate change, such as Banyan Tree's green audit programme, Intrepid Travel's project management plan,
and Expedia's World Heritage Alliance.
"The CEO Challenge successfully facilitated the sharing of these valuable, practical initiatives. And I am delighted that so
many industry leaders -- from all sectors of travel and tourism -- accepted the challenge to share their thoughts, ideas and actions on
climate change," said PATA President and CEO, Peter de Jong. "The event has definitely delivered on our goals, with so many good ideas,
innovative programmes and practical solutions, and, most importantly, opportunities for collaborative action," he added.
"Within the framework of Mekong tourism development and marketing we are seeking to embrace the philosophy of carbon neutral
'triple bottom line' sustainable tourism," said MTO Senior Advisor, Peter Semone, who attended the event. "Fortunately for the Mekong, there
are still many cultural and natural resources that we can rescue from extinction and preserve for many generations of future travellers -- we
accept and embrace the challenge as part of our DNA," he added.
More than 350 people, including officials of the Thai Ministry of Tourism and Sports, registered media and accompanying
persons, engaged in the day-and-a-half programme, including a welcome reception and dinner hosted by the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT).
CEO Challenge website.
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'Explore Mekong' Campaign Presented at Skal Bangkok
The new "Explore Mekong" marketing campaign was presented to
hoteliers, tour operators and aviation executives at a Skal luncheon meeting Tuesday at the Dusit Thani Hotel in Bangkok.
MTO Senior Advisor, Mr Peter Semone (pictured), unveiled the campaign and proposed logo design to the important private
sector group. Through a survey of the attendees, the MTO has been able to narrow down the campaign logo design as this was the final focus
group providing input into the campaign logo.
"The 'Explore Mekong' campaign will be looking forward to support from the private sector in the region," Mr Semone said.
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CBT-I Thailand Pilot Programme Moves Forward
Thai and UK operators join in the "circle of nine friends" to better develop Thailand's community-based tourism. Nine Thai operators agreed to
work together as middlemen in marketing 15 communities to the UK as a pilot project with the hope that the communities will receive manageable
numbers of appropriate types of tourists.
The workshop last month was part of CBT Springboard Project for Responsible Tourism International and National and Ground
Partnership Projects by the Community-Based Tourism Institute (CBT-I). Nine operators from the UK, nine Thai operators and representatives
from 15 communities were invited to share their needs and work together to find an appropriate community-based tourism marketing model.
The nine Thai operators are Chiang Mai Adventure, Focus Nature, Friends of Nature, Kob Trekking, NS Travel&Tours, Nutty's
Adventures, Phu Phiang, Tour Meng Tai and Wild Thailand.
"The great thing is that we have started to get together and listen to each other," said the CBT-I Marketing Support and
Development Coordinator, Peter Richards.
The CBT SPRING Partnerships project started in July last year with financial support from the Travel Foundation in UK, which
will carry on until June.
Full Story.
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Vietnam Hosts Asia-Pacific Forestry Week
The Vietnamese Government is committed to managing its forests in a sustainable way, Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai told forestry
leaders attending the 22nd Session of the Asia-Pacific Forestry Commission, part of the Asia-Pacific Forestry Week, held in Hanoi last month.
About 25 million Vietnamese people live in or near forests, particularly in mountainous areas populated by ethnic minorities,
Hai said.
Asia-Pacific Forestry Week attracted over 600 participants from more than 50 countries. It was hosted jointly by the Vietnamese Government and
the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
Full story. For more
information about the social session and PAEL session, and to download the presentations from these sessions, visit the APFW page on the
RECOFTC website.
APFW website.
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PATA Foundation Offers Six
Scholarships to GMS NTO Staff
The School of Travel Industry Management (TIM), University
of Hawai'i at Manoa (UHM) in collaboration with the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) in Thailand and the PATA Foundation are
offering a five-day course on "Strategic Management and Planning of Tourism Destinations: Creating a Positive Visitor Experience
while Meeting the Needs of the Community" from June 16-20, 2008 at the AIT Conference Center, Thailand. The course has been
developed based on the partners' extensive experience in Asia.
The course is designed to serve the ongoing educational needs of mid-level management of tourism organisations, tourism
planners, site managers, researchers and lecturers. The course will provide participants with an overview of the destination
management process as well as an opportunity for discussion of specific dimensions and examples relevant to their own situations.
The PATA Foundation is offering 6 scholarships to qualified personnel of national tourism organisations from the Greater
Mekong Subregion countries. The application deadline is May 28, 2008.
For more information on the scholarships, please contact foundation@PATA.org
For course details, please contact Pawinee Sunalai at
tim_pawinee@yahoo.com. Or
download this PDF.
Master of Management Program in Tourism and Hospitality Open House
The Master of Management Program in Tourism and Hospitality at Mahidol University International College, Salaya Campus, is hosting
an Open House for prespective students May 31 at the Salaya Pavilion Hotel and Training Center. Reservations are required. For
more information.
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Golden Tulips Blossoming Throughout Asia
Switzerland-based Golden Tulip Hospitality Group recently announced that its Bangkok-based subsidiary, Golden Tulip South East Asia, will open
40 hotels in four years in 10 Asian countries. In Thailand and Cambodia, five priority projects have been confirmed: one in each of the
popular Thai resorts of Samui and Phuket, two in Bangkok, and one in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh.
The company is also reviewing and negotiating the opening of properties in Singapore, Vietnam (Ho Chi Minh City, Danang,
Hanoi, Vung Tau, Bin Dong), Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur, Cyberjaya, Ipoh, Johor Bahru, Penang, Kota Kinabalu, Kuching), Indonesia (Jakarta,
Bandung, Semarang, Surabaya, Yogjakarta, Medan and Den Pasar), and more in Cambodia along its south coast.
In Thailand, fifteen additional properties including a 350-room hotel and conference centre at Bangkok's international
airport are also under negotiation.
Golden Tulip and its partners plan to invest US$800 million (about €508 million) on the initial four-year development period
in South East Asia. Website.
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About the
Mekong Tourism 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 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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