Policy boost for Mekong subregion
Strong growth in tourism in the Greater Mekong Subregion is due to be boosted by a raft of policies and projects endorsed by six governments.
The authorities reported that their proposed 29 tourism, investment and infrastructure initiatives would make investment easier and channel growth towards socially responsible projects in an area where 60 million people still earn less than US$1 (Bt39) a day.Cambodia, Laos, Burma, Thailand, Vietnam and the Yunnan and Guangxi provinces of China, addressed the Mekong Tourism Investment Summit in Luang Prabang this week. The Asian Development Bank (ABD) is expected to fund some of the projects. "Our objective is to achieve sustainable tourist development and channel the benefits more widely to reduce poverty, empower women and minimise adverse impacts," said Alfredo Perdiguero, ADB's project economist for Mekong tourism. As part of the easing of travel restrictions in the region, Thailand and Cambodia are preparing a joint tourist visa that Thai officials said would be ready by August. The chief executive officer of Bangkok Airways, Dr Prasert Prasarttong-osoth, called for the single Mekong visa to be introduced not in 10 years but in five. "We would also like to see an open-skies policy for the Mekong subregion finalised within a year or two to make trade and investment easier," he said. The chief of Bangkok Airways, Thailand's largest private-sector airline, asked hotel companies to make more rooms available in heritage destinations such as Danang and Hue in Vietnam and Luang Prabang in Laos. Luang Prabang also needs a new airport, Prasert said. To coordinate the growth in Mekong tourism, the six governments are financing the Mekong Tourism Office, which opened in Bangkok in February to drive the region's tourism agenda. The Greater Mekong Subregion Tourism Sector Strategy 2006-2015 has identified US$61.8 million worth of investment requirements. Delegates also called for the streamlining and increased transparency of investment policies into one-stop centres, or for procedures to be moved fully online. Thailand's tourism investment and incentive procedures were identified as a possible model for the rest of the region. Mekong tourism ministers will discuss recommendations from the summit at the Pacific Asia Travel Association annual conference to be held in Pattaya on April 24. International visitors to the Mekong have increased by an average of 7.2 per cent per year since 1995.
|
