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March 2009 www.MekongTourism.org |
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Official newsletter of the Mekong Tourism Coordinating Office |
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In this issue: Consumer Site to Focus on Mekong Responsible Tourism Cambodia Moves to Mitigate Tourism Drop Mekong Tourism Goes Social and Collaborative MTCO joins Educational Buddhist Pilgrimage to Myanmar Thailand Targets School Tours from the Middle East How to Leak News about Your Responsible Tourism Day Event Temple Park Reopens on Thai Side as Controversy Subsides Download ASEAN's Common Tourism Competencies Learning Community-Based Tourism by "Osmosis" Tap New Markets at www.ExploreMekong.org Learn, Share, Engage at www.MekongTourism.org
Consumer Site to Focus on Mekong Responsible Tourism A new extension to MekongTourism.org and ExploreMekong.org, inspired by 'The Guide to Responsible Tourism in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam' will be launched into cyberspace by the end of March.
In order to expand the potential readership of the book and the geographical coverage of its valuable content, the 'Mekong Responsible Tourism Guide' website will be developed for the MTCO by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)'s ASEAN Competitiveness Enhancement Project (ACE).
MTCO Executive Director Mason Florence welcomed ACE Project's initiative. "This is a terrific way for global citizens to learn about and comment on responsible tourism activities in the Greater Mekong Sub-region," Mr Florence said. "We're hopeful that this will help build the foundation for a new print edition of the guidebook, which will contain information about responsible tourism activities in all six countries of destination Mekong." All content pages and posts based on the content of the original book, which was written by Guy Marris, Nick Ray, and Bernie Rosenbloom, and edited by Ken Scott, will be tagged "bookcontent". As the site develops further, anyone will be able submit comments, testimonials, and fair criticism on its content, and also make specific recommendations regarding responsible tourism activities in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, and the Guangxi and Yunnan provinces of China for the website's free publication.
A publication of the Mekong Tourism Development Project (MTDP), 'The Guide to Responsible Tourism in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam' was funded by the Ministry of Tourism Cambodia, the Lao National Tourism Administration and the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism with loans from the Asian Development Bank. The MTCO is in charge of its distribution and promotion.
Email content@mekongtourism.org. Cambodia Moves to Mitigate Tourism Drop
In response to Prime Minister Hun Sen's request, a private-sector tourism working group developed a set a proposals to mitigate the impact of the global recession on tourism arrivals to Cambodia for consideration by the Committee for Financial and Economic Policy and the Committee for Private Sector Development. The chairman of the meeting was HE Keat Chhon, Deputy Prime Minister and Senior Minister, Ministry of Economy and Finance.
Among their proposals were a series of measures to improve access to Cambodia by air and land, such as opening the
Bangkok-Siem Reap air route to more airlines; opening Sihanoukville airport; and allowing foreign private cars to drive into Cambodia. Further
recommendations included the reduction of visa fees and extending the validity of the Angkor Wat pass.
MTCO joins Educational Buddhist Pilgrimage to Myanmar As ASEAN member countries have been working to develop Buddhist Circuit/Pilgrimage Tourism for ASEAN and India, joint efforts to cooperate together in tourism promotion and marketing within ASEAN have increased.
MTCO Executive Director Mason Florence was part of an
educational Buddhist Pilgrimage to the Union of Myanmar from February 17-21. Myanmar is one of the pilot countries that TAT is enthusiastic to
join hands with in promoting the "Buddhist Circuit". Organised by the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) and following the route from
Bangkok-Chiang Rai-Thachilek-Kengtung-Bagan-Yangon-Bangkok, 22 participants in all were lead by Mr. Suraphon Svetasreni, TAT Deputy Governor
for Policy and Planning, together with other representatives from TAT, the Tourism Council of Thailand (TCT), the Association of Thai Travel
Agents (ATTA), the Chiang Rai Tourism Society, as well as travel writers.
Thailand Targets School Tours from the Middle East
'Jump to Amazing Thailand' aims to promote Thailand as a
quality value-for-money school camp destination by targeting principals and head teachers of leading international schools.
How to Leak News about Your Responsible Tourism Day Event
If you want to organize an event to promote responsible tourism initiatives and to honor the water issue, please contact the
International Coalition for Responsible Tourism (ICRT), which can advise on content and assist with appropriate promotional tools.
Khao Phra Viharn National Park in Si Sa Ket Province, Thailand officially re-opened March 1 with a half-price entry promotion.
Download ASEAN's Common Tourism Competencies
During the human resource development workshop organized by the MTCO in Phnom Penh last February one common problem identified
by most participants was the lack of a common curriculum. A "Common ASEAN Tourism Curriculum" was completed in June 2007 by the ASEAN
Australia Development Cooperation Program (AADCP) and is now easily accessible to all. Visit
www.waseantourism.com. (Note: username is "guest",
password is "guest1".)
Learning Community-Based Tourism by "Osmosis" A free community-based tourism (CBT) workshop in Siem Reap, Cambodia will give participants the opportunity to attend presentations, workshops, individual consultations, as well as enjoy an excursion to the CBT project Osmose on Tonle Sap Lake. CBT trainers, CBT network managers, development workers, tourism boards, and tour operators will attend. To take place March 19-21, the event has been organized by CCBEN in co-operation with ECEAT, INDECON, STDC Mongolia, and CBT Asia, with the financial support of the EU Asia Invest Program.
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Copyright 2009 www.MekongTourism.org. All rights reserved. |
Official Website of the Mekong Tourism Coordinating Office
March 2009
