Greetings from the Mekong Tourism Coordinating Office:
It is my great pleasure to announce the Mekong Tourism Forum 2010: “New Roads, New Opportunities” on May 7-8, 2010 in Siem Reap, Cambodia.
Mason Florence, MTCO Executive Director
This year’s event resumes the annual tourism think-tank held for ten consecutive years (1996 to 2005) with the support of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the talents of the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA). Following a series of linked tourism events subsequently spearheaded by the private sector, the torch has now been passed to the Mekong Tourism Coordinating Office (MTCO). We are humbly grateful and tremendously excited for the chance to evolve this event into a flagship annual gathering for the region’s key stakeholders.
The Mekong Tourism Forum 2010 will revive the platform for members of the public sector, private sector, development partners, international media, as well as consumers and travelers, to gather under one roof to network, share and discuss issues that are key to the future success of travel and tourism in the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS).
Topping the agenda will be the emergence of strategic roads – often dubbed “Economic Corridors” – that today facilitate access though the six member nations connected by one of the world’s great rivers, the Mekong. After years of dedicated effort, these once conceptual corridors have fully evolved into very real, functional tourism routes. And this is how we have arrived at such an important and exciting historical juncture. The regional tourism industry now has unprecedented access to the diverse delights of the Mekong region – and the indigenous communities it hosts. We aim to pursue the best ways of continuing the sustainable development of these tourism corridors – and help to ensure they become roads responsibly traveled.
The Mekong Tourism Forum 2010: “New Roads, New Opportunities” promises to be instrumental in shaping the success of the GMS region. Please join us in forging a clear path ahead to a prosperous future.
Yours in travel,
Mason Florence
Executive Director
MTCO
