Monday 4 February 2019

A Quick Look Back What Happened at Mekong Tourism Forum 2018

The Minister of Tourism and Sports and the Province of Nakhon Phanom together with the Mekong Tourism Coordinating Office welcomed over 400 delegates to Thailand’s Northeastern or Isan province of Nakhon Phanom for MTF 2018, during 25-29 June 2018, with the theme of ‘Transforming Travel – Transforming Lives.’

Please feel free to view the summary video, and view photos, and download MTF 2018 presentations.

The highlight of this year's MTF 2018 unmistakenly were the 8 Thematic Strategy Sessions in 8 community villages. Please read impressions from one delegate, blogger Kate.

Another highlight was the 1st Asia Film Destination Conference & the Mekong Mini Movie Festival Screening & Awards. Take a look at the winners of phase 1 - don't forget the campaign is ongoing until November 15, and final prizes will be announced at ASEAN Tourism Forum 2019.

We also recognised the the Experience Mekong Collection Showcases, a collaboration with Mahidol University to develop best practice case studies. Filter by "Showcases" to view the 2018 selection when going to www.ExperienceMekong.com.

The Mekong Innovative Startups in Tourism program (MIST) showcased the finalists of this year's competition.

Our Mekong Marketplace always had a great buzz of people exploring and discovering local businesses and startups. The Mekong Marketplace also featured the Mekong Photo Exhibition.

Finally, for the second year in a row, and as probably the first tourism conference in the region, we banned single-use plastic at the event.

To highlight the global issue, we added a special session on #NoPlastic, and encouraged delegates to give their Plastic Free Pledge. We are planning to launching a NoPlastic.Asia site to highlight initiatives, solutions, and best practices. Any input, support, and collaboration is highly appreciated.

Just to mention a few of the many highlights at this year's MTF. We are working on a MTF 2018 Post Conference Book that will summarise all the highlights of this year's event.
Hint: Sponsorship opportunities are still available :)

Right afterwards, MTCO headed to China to start planning for the next MTF, which will be held in May of 2019 in Dali, Yunnan. 

Other initiatives included the participation at the ASEAN Heritage Forum, and the announcement of the Heritage website on MekongMoments.com - for launch at ITB Asia. We also helped organise a successful blogger trip to Luang Prabang as part of the Visit Laos Year 2018.

We look forward in collaborating with all of the travel and tourism stakeholders in the GMS.

Mekong Tourism Coordinating Office
c/o 3rd Floor, Department of Tourism, Ministry of Tourism and Sports, 154 Rama 1 Road
National Stadium, Wangmai, Pathumwan, Bangkok 10330, Thailand
Web: www.mekongtourism.org
Tel: +66 2038 5071-1
Mobile: +66 8555 44234, +66 8098 95853

No comments:

Post a Comment