The Government of Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) with assistance of the Mekong Tourism Coordinating Office (MTCO) virtually convened the 49th Meeting of the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Tourism Working Group (TWG-49) on 12 May 2022. The meeting was attended by representatives of the National Tourism Organizations (NTOs) of the six GMS countries, MTCO, and the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
A cruise ship in Ha Long Bay, Viet Nam. Photo by Bryan Lippincott (CC BY-ND 2.0)
The 25th Meeting of ASEAN Tourism Ministers held on 19 January 2022 in Sihanoukville, Cambodia, exchanged views on the way forward for the recovery of the region’s tourism industry. Bearing the theme “ASEAN – A Community of Peace and Shared Future,” the Meeting discussed the impact of COVID-19 on each ASEAN member state and emphasized the development of the tourism sector amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.
Decline in Tourist Growth
This publication provides an analysis of key challenges and opportunities for the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) to realize its development goals by 2030 and beyond.
Bagan, Myanmar. Photo: Piktour UK via Flickr (CC BY 2.0)
The Government of Myanmar released a Strategic Roadmap for Tourism Recovery that aims to establish ‘new normal’ conditions to help tourism make a comeback.
Mr. Ohn Maung, Union Minister of Ministry of Hotels and Tourism, provided guidelines for implementation of the plan. It includes three phases:
Survival
The Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR) and Myanmar will explore opportunities to enhance tourism cooperation through bilateral and multilateral frameworks. This was agreed by the two countries at the 12th Meeting of Myanmar-Laos Joint Commission for Bilateral Cooperation held in Vientiane, Lao PDR on 6 March 2020.
Lao PDR and Myanmar aim to create a new cooperation master plan. Tourism could help promote each other’s rich culture and heritage and bring their people together.
This is the joint statement issued at the 23rd GMS Ministerial Conference held in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on 18 November 2019.
Thailand’s Golf Digg and Viet Nam’s Spa Noir emerged as winners in the Mekong Innovative Startups in Tourism (MIST) 2019. Golf Digg, an online golf booking service, won as best Travel Technology Venture.
Bangkok is still the busiest aviation hub in the subregion, followed by Kunming. Photo: ADB.
The Greater Mekong Subregion is one of the fast-growing markets for air transport services today.
Startup entrepreneurs get advice from experts at a tourism mentoring bootcamp. Photo: MIST.
The best tourism startups will converge at the 2017 Mekong Tourism Forum on June 6 to pitch their business plans to venture capitalists and industry experts.
This issue of the Journal focuses on the seminal research undertaken by Social Research Institute of Chiang Mai University (SRI-CMU) on the question: How does community-based tourism (CBT) impact on poverty? Five research papers were selected from the SRI-CMU project. The overview article, Tourism: Blessings for All?, by Mingsarn Kaosa-ard, discusses the returns from tourism and how these returns are being shared from a national perspective. The benefits and the potential negative impacts of tourism are weighed.
Greater Mekong Subregion Secretariat
Regional Cooperation and Operations Coordination Division,
Southeast Asia Department, Asian Development Bank
Address: 6 ADB Avenue, Mandaluyong City 1550, Metro Manila, Philippines
Telephone: +63 2 8632 4444 Fax: +63 2 8636 2226
