People
often associate Mekong River exclusively to Vietnam. Unbeknownst to many, the
mighty Mekong stretches a long distance and drawn-out amply forming a
sub-region inside the vast Asian continent. The countries of Vietnam, Cambodia,
Laos, Thailand, Myanmar and even China, are all needled together by Mekong
River.
In
light of this geographical fact, Mekong not only stitched these nations together
through its many snaking tributaries, it also paved the way for the creation of
a deputized Tourism organization centering on areas where the mighty Mekong
passes through.
Since
1996, leading players from the travel industry have been gathering annually for
the Mekong Tourism Forum. Each yeah, a standout number of issues are discussed
along with new ideas. This year, a myriad of fresh innovative concepts was
deliberated – with every topic generating buzz and heightened awareness, aimed
at making the Mekong sub-region meet the demands of growing tourism, as Earth
friendly and community centered as possible.
‘Transforming Travel – Transforming Lives’
This
year’s theme centers on making the travel industry become the vehicle to
transform lives. Other than the usual economic and cultural development gained
from the tourism industry; participants are encouraged to deeply advocate for
the inclusion of more local communities.
To
send this message clearly, a number of conference sessions were held at various
local communities where delegates participated in various discussions tackling
the several tourism key points such as: eco-tourism, heritage tourism,
religious tourism, festival tourism, adventure tourism, wellness tourism and
food tourism.
Jens
Thraenhart, Executive Director of the Mekong Tourism Coordinating Office, said “We believe that tourism can be an important
catalyst in changing people’s lives for the better through mutual understanding.
Organising workshops in ethnic villages surrounding the city of Nakhon Phanom
was an idea focused on bringing delegates to areas where tradition still shapes
people’s daily life.”
Simultaneously
held in eight ethnic community villages around Nakhon Phanom and guided with
regional experts. The delegates engaged with the villagers and by doing so, we
learned how tourism can make an impact in their communities. [1]
The Call for More Sustainable Tourism
Promoting
tourism also comes with a price: Over-tourism. This bane of the tourism
industry can cause significant damage to a once stunning destination. Case in
point: the beaches of Thailand, Boracay Island in the Philippines, Bali in
Indonesia just to name a few.
This
is where the Mekong Region comes in as an ideal place to combat over-tourism. Thraenhart
adds “Thailand is very active supporting
secondary destinations to combat over tourism at popular resorts. Over-tourism
is a global issue and our trends report will features input from 50 experts to
show the way forward to achieve sustainable growth.”
Numerous
speakers called for a solid action to promote sustainable tourism to become an
integral part of tourism promotion. One such presenter was Jeremy Smith – the co-founder
and editor of Travindy.com, a leading sustainable
tourism website. He discussed his book “Transforming
Travel”, which echoes the call for us to adopt the principles of the ‘circular
economy’.
A
circular economy is designed by the philosophies of regenerating valuable
resources – especially of planet Earth. This means the minimizing, slowing down
or in best case scenarios, closing down energy and natural resources wastage. This
is achieved through recycling, upcycling, durable design, constant maintenance,
repair, reuse, refurbishing and remanufacturing.
If
applied in the tourism industry, chances of conserving and preserving a
tranquil island, an ancient city and a snow-capped mountain becomes higher.
Start-Ups takes the Spot Light
This
year’s Mekong Tourism Forum also provided an avenue for a number of promising
start-ups to present their innovative ideas and attached advocacies all
pertaining to sustainability, digital nomadism and community-based tourism
programs.
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| Bamboo straws from BambooLao |
The Influencing Role of Influencers in Tourism
It
is no coincidence that this year’s Mekong Tourism Forum saw the most number of
invited travel bloggers as compared to only a couple of individuals invited
three years ago. This stems from the increasing influence of online influencers
in championing the tourism industry.
By
writing about travels, more and more people are getting inspired to pack their
backpacks and explore a world outside their comfort zone. Matt Gibson, the President
of the Professional Travel Bloggers Association, tackled this burgeoning movement
of so-called online influencers.
Before
Gibson presented his slides, he called out more than a dozen travel bloggers
(including this writer) to join him on stage to introduce to the many movers
and shakers of the travel industry.
Because
of that, I met several persons from the travel industry and made contacts for
future collaborations. With more places to visit particularly in the Greater
Mekong region in Southeast Asia, and travel narratives to write about, I was
glad to have been invited to attend the 2018
Mekong Tourism Forum.
Apart
from learning heaps of knowledge about tourism in this part of the world, I
also met wonderful and dedicated people who are passionate in introducing the
wonderful culture and magnificent locations in the Mekong Region, to the rest
of the world.
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| With Tass and Aom of Destination Mekong |
Writer’s
note:
[1]
I participated in the Heritage Tourism discussion and a narrative of what
transpired there will be written on another blog post.
[2]
Will write a detailed article about these start-ups on separate blog posts.
