Mekong Basin aims to ramp up tourism

Tourism growth should be viewed as a “win-win game” for the entire lower Mekong Sub-region, speakers at an international tourism summit in Ho CM City said on September 11.
Tourism growth should be viewed as a “win-win game” for the entire lowerMekong Sub-region, speakers at an international tourism summit in Ho CMCity said on September 11.

Top officials from five ASEANcities - HCM City , Bangkok , Vientiane , Phnom Penhand Yangon - gathered at the second Lower Mekong Tourism Cities MayorsSummit 2013, which was part of the ninth International Travel Expo HCMCity 2013.

The summit assessed the implementation of the joint statement signed during the first summit last year.
In addition, participants looked at ways to improve tourism cooperation among cities in the lower Mekong sub-region.

Addressing the summit, Le Hoang Quan, chairman of the HCM CityPeople’s Committee, said the event intended to promote a sustainabletourism development strategy for the region.

It gave a chancefor participating cities to exchange experiences on how to improvetourism linkages and training programmes for human resources.

Tourism promotions that uphold cultural values of each city or country were also discussed.

The summit this year saw the participation of a new member – Bangkok. Thailand has extensive experience in tourism development and hasa leading position in attracting foreign tourists.

SukhumbhandRaribatra, governor of Bangkok, called for regional cooperation intourism via practical strategies, saying each of the participatingcities should see tourism growth of the region as a “win –win” game fromwhich each city could benefit.

An official from Myanmar , UKyaw Soe, hoped that after the summit more people would visit Myanmarto learn about the significant changes that have occurred in hiscountry in recent years.

Other officials from Laos andCambodia presented reports about their cities’ tourism situations andexpressed their determination to cooperate with other cities andcountries.

All the mayors from the five cities agree with thegeneral review and results achieved from the first mayoral conferenceheld last year in HCM City.

They also agreed toorganise a Tourism Youth Ambassador programme in the Lower Mekongsub-region to improve exchanges and develop a regional youth tourismmarket.

The leader also said guidance should be provided to thecities’ tourism bodies to establish better communication channels tocoordinate, research and develop a system of inter-regional tourismproducts based on advantages and resource of each city.

According to Quan, after the summit, a website about tourism in the fivecities will be set up to attract international visitors.

The third summit will be held next year in Bangkok-VNA

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