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In this issue:
Demonstrable Returns on Hospitality Training: HRD
Workshop
ExploreMekong.org Offers a New Way to Build Business
Vietnam Tourism Bands Together to Beat Recession
Yunnan Tourism Issues Domestic "Travel Passport"
Infrastructure Needed in Mekong Delta Rice Bowl
Sweating it out for Cambodia's Poor
Cambodian Circus Carnival Extracts "Light from Art"
Tap New Markets at www.ExploreMekong.org
Learn, Share, Engage at www.MekongTourism.org
Demonstrable Returns on Hospitality Training: HRD
Workshop
Exacerbating the lack of skilled entry-level hospitality staff in the GMS is a shortage of qualified trainers.
Those currently teaching tend to lack teacher training and/or hands-on hospitality experience. Existing courses are mainly lengthy preliminary
courses for young people. And continuing education is nonexistent in much of the region. Moreover there is a lack of communication
between educational institutions, schools, administrations and the private sector, preventing the discovery of appropriate solutions.
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CHA President Luu Meng |
These challenges clearly arose from discussions at the workshop "Exploring
Subregional Support Measures for Vocational Training in the Hospitality Sector for SMEs in the GMS". Organized by the MTCO, co-funded by ADB
and France, and hosted by the Ministry of Tourism of Cambodia at the Sunway Hotel in Phnom Penh, February 12-13, the event provided a welcome
platform for more than 70 participants to tackle hospitality training challenges.
The most important need identified by workshop participants was to train entry-level staff. There is a particular shortfall
in skilled staff in front-office occupations, housekeeping, and food and beverage services. Furthermore, small- and medium-sized enterprise
(SME) managers in the region lack basic skills in business, marketing, and the internet and they and their employers fail to understand the
benefits of staff development and training.
Full story and resources.
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ExploreMekong.org Offers a New Way to
Build Business
With slowing economies and disappointing visitor revenues, it is increasingly important to have effective strategies to maximize
sales across multiple media, according to GeneRes Asia Managing Director Brinley Waddell.
An advocate of initiating and
expanding upon cost-effective web-based channels, Mr Waddell (pictured) recommends hoteliers and tour operators spend a little
time each day monitoring and managing online rates and information to ensure additional sales at minimal cost.
"Online business channels continue to evolve, making it easier for travelers to find the best offers," said Mr Waddell,
clearly implying that if you're not yet on the web, you may be losing out to your competitors.
MTCO's consumer-facing website
www.exploremekong.org, which will evolve into the primary tool for marketing the Mekong region as a premier tourism
destination, is offering tourism stakeholders a valuable opportunity to dabble in online distribution for the first time or expand
upon existing channels.
GeneRes Asia is developing the website's e-commerce and online booking modules, which will promote accommodation and tour
products from across the Mekong region.
More than 140 properties have already registered to participate on the site, but MTCO knows that's only the beginning.
"The more Mekong-based hoteliers and tour operators participate, the more useful
www.exploremekong.org will be for
prospective travelers to our region," said MTCO Executive Director Mason Florence.
For details on how to build business on
www.exploremekong.org, please email exploremekong@genaresasia.com.
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Vietnam Tourism Bands Together to Beat Recession
The Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) will ask airlines, travel agencies and hotels to
commit to reducing their prices by up to 50% until the end of September as part of a national tourism promotion campaign to encourage both
domestic and foreign travellers.
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My Son heritage site |
VNAT's Vu The Binh announced this during a
conference on the tourism sector's action program, which took place in the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau on February 6. Mr Binh said
travel companies must pledge to offer discounts, with VNAT vowing to punish those who do not honor their commitments.
According to Mr Binh, VNAT has created 99 discounted package tours to promote to markets such as Japan,
ASEAN (Southeast Asia), France, Western Europe, China, Australia and New Zealand. It also plans to launch an additional 60
competitively-priced domestic tours.
VNAT will conduct a broader campaign to intensify tourism promotion activities via the Internet and other channels, as well
as host tourism events and festivals.
On January 21, Vietnam's Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung signed into law a 50% VAT reduction for travel, transport and hotel
businesses. VNAT has also proposed a 30% cut in corporate income tax rates for businesses involved in the tourism sector.
VNAT news.
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Yunnan Tourism Issues Domestic "Travel Passport"
China's Yunnan Province, part of the Greater Mekong Subregion, has issued its "Travel Passport" across China. The "passport" offers
preferential services and discounted prices when presented at almost 100 participating attractions.
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| Shangri-la dreamland |
The "Travel Passport" has two versions, red and blue, according to the Yunnan Tourism
Association. The red version is issued for important events. The first edition of the red version, valid for two years, was issued on June 1,
2008 just before the opening of the Beijing Olympic Games. The blue version, valid for five years, was first promoted on January 1 this year.
Holders of the travel passport can enjoy discount of 15% to 60% on admission to nearly 100 tourist attractions, including
Grand View Park, Butterfly Spring, Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, Heshun old town, Gaoligong Mountain Nature Park and Xishuangbanna Primitive
Forest Park.
Yunnan Tourism site.
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Infrastructure Needed in Mekong Delta Rice Bowl
Vietnamese provinces in the Mekong Delta region should give top priority to developing
transport infrastructure, reports the Voice of Vietnam News (VOVNews).
Although the region produces more than 50% of the national food output and accounts for 95% of national rice exports and 60% of
seafood exports, living standards remain low. Vietnam's Mekong Delta sees the highest rate of poverty, child illiteracy, and
makeshift housing.
Experts advise that the root cause of this disparity is that "socio-economic
structures" have not kept pace with demands for development.
According to the Ministry of Transport, a comprehensive network to transport large volumes of goods from the delta to Ho Chi
Minh City does not yet exist, and there are no direct sea routes or air links for exports.
A well-developed transport network will draw more investment, enable the trade, services and tourism sectors to grow,
stimulate the development of industry and handicrafts, and increase the operational effectiveness of industrial parks and export
processing zones, said Luu Phuoc Luong, deputy head of the Southwestern Steering Committee.
Full story.TOP
Sweating it out for Cambodia's Poor
Kep, a seaside resort on Cambodia's south coast, is hosting its second annual half-marathon and bike ride in order to raise funds to support a
grass-roots community empowerment project.
A unique fundraising event created by former Bridges Across Borders South East Asia (BABSEA) volunteer Nikki Wise, the second
Annual Kep Trio (half-marathon, 10km run and 10km cycle) will take place over the weekend of Saturday, February 28 and Sunday, March 1.
The event will raise much needed funds for the nearby vocational training centre in Chamka Bei village, which is
training and empowering the disadvantaged villagers in a number of skills that will help lift them out of poverty.
Chamka Bei was one of the last Khmer Rouge strongholds -- finally surrendering to the government in 1994. As such it was often
neglected and the villagers marginalized.
The first Kep Trio in January 2008 was considered a success, with more than 80 participants generating US$54,000 in cash
donations and delivering 50 new bicycles to the community.
Registration is US$5 for local Cambodians and US$50 for foreigners.
More
information.
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Cambodian Circus Carnival Extracts "Light from Art"
Cambodia's circus extravaganza Tini Tinou is now in its sixth year and is bigger than ever. The spectacle is
arranged and hosted by Phare Ponleu Selpak ("Light from Art"), whose roots are in the Thai refugee camps that filled with people fleeing
Cambodia's Khmer Rouge regime in the late 1970s.
Phare's initial aim was to use visual arts to help children and young people overcome
the torments of 20 years of civil war. Now based in Battambang, Cambodia, Phare offers fresh starts to disaffected youth.
Tini Tinou will take place in both Phnom Penh (Cambodia's capital) and Battambang this coming March and April.
A colorful parade through the streets of Phnom Penh by 120 artists from 10 countries will officially open the festival on
March 28. Shows and festivities will continue in the Olympic Stadium for the next 24 hours.
In Battambang, April 2-5, companies from Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Japan, Romania, Germany, France, Belgium, Canada and Australia, will
entertain the public with feats of acrobatics, juggling, trapeze flying, tightrope walking, contorting, tumbling, and clowning around.
From March 10-26, prior to the festival opening, international artists will conduct two weeks of workshops to train young
Cambodians.
Phare Ponleu Selpak is supported by the French Government.
Phare site (French, with English
auto-translation).
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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. TOP
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