Shortlist for the 2020 Experience Mekong Showcases announced

Created three years ago in September 2017 to both recognize and encourage sustainable and responsible tourism development, 60 Experience Mekong Collection (EMC) member businesses have been shortlisted – ten from each of the six GMS member countries – to determine the final six businesses to be recognized for the third annual Experience Mekong Showcases, announced in Q3 of 2020. The “Experience Mekong Collection” curates small, responsible, and sustainable travel businesses in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS), endorsed by members of the Mekong Tourism Advisory Group (https://www.mekongtourism.org/mekong-tourism-advisory-group/) and is a collection of inspirational, rewarding and authentic experiences that minimise negative impacts and generate greater benefits for the people of the GMS and enhance the well-being of host communities. This year’s shortlisted businesses were each examined in great detail in regard to its practices, tangible impact on the environment and social climate, innovation, and its financial viability.

Each business needs to fulfil the following requirements:

• Make a significant social impact to its community.
• Provide an authentically local experience positioning the GMS as a responsible, inclusive, and experiential tourism destination.
• Have an innovative concept and sustainable business model.

“The importance of responsible tourism cannot be underestimated and the ‘Experience Mekong Collection’ is a wonderful way of highlighting examples of good practice. Social enterprises have the potential to drive sustainable tourism and to promote the Mekong Region as an experiential and responsible travel destination. We aim to tell their stories to inspire travelers to experience these “stars of the Mekong,” said Mr. Jens Thraenhart, Executive Director of the Mekong Tourism Coordinating Office (MTCO).

In January 2020, at the FITUR travel trade show in Madrid, Spain, the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) featured the Experience Mekong Collection as a global best practice on tourism aligned to the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

During this difficult time of the COVID-19 pandemic, we are afraid that many small businesses are struggling, and some may not survive. What makes travel in the Greater Mekong Subregion so unique and authentic are these small local enterprises and responsible operators. For some of these experiences to go away, is like taking a part of the Mekong Region away. The Experience Mekong Collection not only creates a strong community for these small businesses to get through this difficult time, but also provides a powerful platform to accelerate the recovery process”, said Ms. Duangmala Phommavong, Managing Director of Exo Travel Laos, and a member of the Mekong Tourism Advisory Group (MeTAG).

By choosing one organization from each Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) country, the MTCO along with the Mekong Tourism Advisory Group (MeTAG) endorses and selects “best practice” tourism organisations specifically committed to sustainable and responsible practices. As previously structured, each showcase organisation is thematically categorized by either ‘DO’, ‘SHOP’, ‘STAY’, ‘TASTE’, ‘TOUR’, and ‘CRUISE’.

This year for the first time, the Mekong Tourism Coordinating Office (MTCO) is inviting the public to vote for their favourite Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) small businesses out of the 60 shortlisted members of the 350+ Experience Mekong Collection members to determine the 2020 Experience Mekong Showcases. Public voting is open until July 1, 2020. The top 3 businesses with the most votes from each country will move into the final, when the Mekong Tourism Advisory Group (MeTAG), the GMS Tourism Working Group (TWG), and the Mekong Tourism Coordinating Office (MTCO) help in selecting the six 2020 Experience Mekong Showcases – one from each GMS member country.

“In recognizing the most innovative best practice businesses as the Experience Mekong Showcases, this sets several benchmarks to further improve travel experiences in the Greater Mekong Subregion. We hope this motivates other operators to become more involved and do their part for responsible tourism,” said HE Mr. Htay Aung, former Minister of Hotels and Tourism of Myanmar, and a member of the Mekong Tourism Advisory Group (MeTAG).

The 2018 Experience Mekong Collection Showcases included Phare Cambodian Circus (Cambodia), Longji Rice Terraces Guangxi (PR China), Ock Pop Tok (Lao PDR), Inle Heritage Place (Myanmar), Local Alike (Thailand), and Koto (Viet Nam). The 2019 Experience Mekong Collection included Soksabike (Cambodia), Linden Centre (PR China), Elephant Conservation Centre (Lao PDR), Hla Day (Myanmar), Sampran Riverside (Thailand), and Streets International (Viet Nam).

Please support these small businesses in these challenging times, and cast your vote for the 2020 Experience Mekong Showcases until July 1, 2020 by visiting: https://www.mekongtourism.org/experience-mekong-showcases-2020/?contest=videos

All members of the Experience Mekong Collection get exposure via channels of Mekong Tourism, including MekongTourism.org, ExperienceMekong.com, as well as the dedicated Experience Mekong Collection Facebook and Instagram accounts. Experience Mekong Collection also have priority access to marketing campaigns and have their own dedicated online member-only community to connect with each other.

For more information about the Experience Mekong Collection and its members, please visit www.experiencemekongcollection.com. To find out more information about our programs, please download our Mekong Tourism program booklet at http://bit.ly/MekongTourism2020 and contact us via www.MekongTourism.org.

About the Mekong Tourism Coordinating Office:
The Mekong Tourism Coordinating Office (MTCO), located in Bangkok, was set up with funding from the governments of the six Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) countries – Cambodia, the People’s Republic of China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Viet Nam. The MTCO, which operates on annual financial contributions from each GMS country, acts as the secretariat for the GMS Tourism Working Group, comprising of senior officials of the six GMS countries’ National Tourism Organizations, to coordinate and facilitate sustainable tourism development of the GMS, and promotion of the Mekong region as a single travel and tourism destination, in collaboration with the public and private sectors. The MTCO manages its award-winning MekongTourism.org digital platform as a one-stop platform to promote responsible and sustainable tourism in the region, as well as the annual Mekong Tourism Forum, whose hosting is rotated among GMS countries.

Please visit www.MekongTourism.org for more information.

About Destination Mekong:
Destination Mekong was created in 2017 to promote the Mekong region, comprising of Cambodia, PR China (Provinces of Guangxi and Yunnan), Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand and Viet Nam as a single tourism destination to stimulate responsible and sustainable development and investment, and drive inclusive growth. Endorsed by the Mekong Tourism Coordinating Office and aligned with the mandate of the regional collaborative tourism framework of the six-member governments of the Greater Mekong Sub-region, Destination Mekong executes targeted projects and initiatives, including Mekong Moments, Mekong Mini Movie Festival, Mekong Innovative Startups in Tourism (MIST), Experience Mekong Collection, Mekong Heroes, and Mekong Trends, with feedback from the Mekong Tourism Advisory Group (MeTAG) and via public-private partnership investment structure, led by UNWTO Affiliate Member Chameleon Strategies.

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