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Dear Mekong Tourism Stakeholder,

We invite travel and tourism professionals in the Greater Mekong Subregion, other parts of Asia, and from all over the world to join us at the Virtual Destination Mekong Summit on August 25th. In order to help the travel and tourism industry, we have waived registration fees, so registration is free at: destinationmekong.com/dms2020.

Over 40 speakers in 4 hours including former Ministers of Tourism of Thailand HE Senator Mr. Weerasak Kowsurat, and H.E. Ms. Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul, former Minister of Tourism of Myanmar H.E. Mr. Htay Aung, Minister of Tourism of Cambodia Dr. Thong Khon, Vice Chairman of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism HE. Dr. Ha Van Sieu, CEO of the World Travel and Tourism Council (and former Minister of Tourism of Mexico) H.E. Ms. Gloria Guevara, former Secretary General of the UNWTO Dr. Taleb Rifai, PATA CEO Dr. Mario Hardy, former Deputy Secretary General of the UNWTO and first CEO of the World Travel and Tourism Council Professor Geoffrey Lipman, Keynote speakers Professor Dr. Simon Hudson and Professor Dr. Ian Yeoman, Deputy Governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand Mr. Tanes Petsuwan, and Chief Commercial Officer of Minor Hotels Mr. Michael Marshall, and former UNWTO Director for Asia Pacific Mr. Xu Jing, as well as executives from organizations such as IATA, STR, Dragon Trail Interactive, ADB, Worldbank, Exo Travel, Accor Hotels, Yaana Ventures, Ministry of Culture and Tourism of PR China, Ministry of Information Culture and Tourism of Lao PDR, JTB Travel Japan, GSTC, Ecpat, Horwath HTL, Lonely Planet, and Wildlife Conservation Society - just to name a few.

Under the theme of “Balanced Tourism Recovery for a Better Future”, the 1st Virtual Destination Mekong Summit has been created with feedback and significant contributions by members of the Mekong Tourism Advisory Group (MeTAG), and a focus on resilience and tourism recovery in the Greater Mekong Subregion. The event aims to give actionable insights and action steps to businesses, operating in the member countries of the Mekong Region. With 15 short sessions, from discussing changing sentiments from source markets China and Japan, recommendations for the meetings sector, latest data and insights for travel businesses, how to communicate to stakeholders in these times, the ever-increasing importance of sustainability including climate change, plastic pollution, child protection, and wildlife conservation, as well as scenario analysis to prepare for the future today.

Our DMS 2020 preparation calls already stimulate exciting discussions - so for sure, you don't want to miss the 1st Virtual Destination Mekong Summit on August 25th from 1:30pm to 6pm (Bangkok time).

Preparation call with H.E. Ms. Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul, Dr. Mario Hardy, H.E. Ms. Gloria Guevara, Professor Geoffrey Lipman, Mr. Jens Thraenhart (from left to right)

Please feel free to invite your friends, partners, employees, members, and anybody else you think would enjoy coming together online to discuss travel and tourism in these challenging times.

We have also continued with our Coronavirus Update Webinars, as well as having started our Experience Mekong Collection webinar series to feature the stories of innovative small businesses in the region. You can listen to the latest ones below.

9th MeTAG Meeting with country updates from Cambodia and Myanmar

1st Experience Mekong Collection Webinar

Finally, for the first time, we have hosted our 45th Mekong Tourism Working Group Meeting virtually. Nevertheless, the meeting was successful and engaging.

With this, I wish you a good week. Please stay healthy and take care of your family and employees. As always, please feel free to reach out - we love to hear from you!

Kind regards,

Jens Thraenhart
Executive Director
Mekong Tourism Coordinating Office (MTCO)

The Mekong Mini Movie Festival is our award-winning social media campaign, operated by Destination Mekong, engaging travelers to share their experiences in 60 second video format to inspire others to visit the Mekong Region. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we feature winning films to motivate people to #TravelTomorrow.
This time: Winner Mekong Mini Movie Festival 2019 - Cambodia

Streets International

STREETS International is an innovative social enterprise initiative with the purpose to develop and operate sustainable programs for street kids and disadvantaged youth in SE Asia and throughout the world. STREETS also prepares vulnerable, orphaned and other disadvantaged young people for careers in hospitality.

The Experience Mekong Collection is operated by Destination Mekong. Please see all Experience Mekong Showcases here.

GetRide

Get empowers microentrepreneurs with technology to bring up the livelihood of people from the base of the pyramid through economic inclusion. Its goal is to cover all second-tier cities of Myanmar by the end of 2019. Get Ride is committed to provide commission-free service for motorbike drivers as an endeavor of its Corporate Social Responsibility. Get Ride has made a priority to recruit fresh local graduates with little to no work experience in order to create new job opportunities for young Myanmar people.

The Mekong Innovative Startups in Tourism program (MIST) is operated by Destination Mekong. See all the finalists of MIST 2019 here.

The UNWTO Global Guidelines to Restart Tourism

This document was prepared by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) with the contribution of the Members of the Tourism Crisis Committee comprised, the private sector - the UNWTO Affiliate Members,
DOWNLOAD

Find more resources in our MTCO e-library for free download.

MEKONG TOURISM STORIES

CAMBODIA PREPARES ‘TRAVEL BUBBLE’ PLAN TO AID TOURISM

The Ministry of Tourism is moving to restore the devastated tourism sector by preparing a so-called travel bubble plan to gradually receive international tourists, even if the Kingdom is seeing a rise in new cases of COVID-19.

Tourism Minister Thong Khon said the ministry has already drafted guidelines on visits via a travel bubble, also described as a one-way closed-loop chartered plane journey in Cambodia.
READ MORE

Explore more stories about travel and tourism in the Greater Mekong Subregion.

To see our new media page with our latest press releases here

MTCO is active on various social media platforms under the universal handle @TourismMekong. Please
Tag with #MekongMoments #TourismMekong and follow us:

The Mekong Tourism Coordinating Office is a collaborative effort between the governments of Cambodia, China, Lao PRD, Myanmar, Thailand, and Viet Nam to promote the Greater Mekong Subregion as a single tourism destination.