Open doors open business

SIHANOUKVILLE Mekong Region’s tourism stakeholders should adopt openness as the core value to ensure the industry achieves another decade of successful expansion.

That was the core message  presented by Asian Development Bank management specialist, Steven Schipani, in his remarks on preparations for the 2016 to 2025 Mekong Tourism Sector Strategy.

He was addressing 200 delegates at the opening day’s session of the Mekong Tourism Forum in Sihanoukville, Cambodia, earlier this week.

Asian Development Bank is funding the new 10-year strategic plan estimated to cost USD160,000.

“There are two camps one that calls for closed economies… the other calls for openness,” he told delegates, clearly throwing his support behind advocates of open-door economies.

Architects of the new 10-year plan have until November to present the final document to tourism ministers of the six-country Mekong Region group.

Schipani in his preamble on the plan’s objectives said: “A well prepared strategy will provide clarity to the world about the region’s priorities, which will help to catalyse investment.”

Noting openness started with an aviation policy Schipani  said  the ASEAN single aviation market agreement had already opened the door for airlines to establish networks that would link Mekong Region destinations.

But there were other examples of an open-door tourism policy.

He cited open roads and the decades of investment in highways that cost millions of dollars, but had opened routes to tourist destinations and helped remote communities to benefit from tourism.

He added the need for open waterways and open trade praising the successes in the Greater Mekong Sub-region that opened borders with easier visa rules.

Yet there remained challenges he pointed out. There was need to maintain the region’s open heart approach to hospitality and service, while an open mind would ensure visitors would be welcome regardless of their colour or creed and end intolerance.

“There are Buddhist traditions that link GMS nations and this can encourage cross-border travel linked to Buddhist temples and festivals to boost low-season travel,” he said.

But the bottom-line driving the strategy over the next decade would be the economic benefits tourism brings to the six countries of the Mekong.

“Tourism products create billions of dollars in revenue for a country’s economy and this is recognised by governments,” he told delegates. “Recent studies show that for every 1% increase in tourist arrivals, there is a 9% increase in exports from the country to international markets.”

Explaining the spin off benefits, he said, once visitors returned to their home country they invariably visited restaurants linked to their holiday destinations.

They create a demand for products from the country they visited whether it be for a brand of coffee or beer that they enjoyed during their visit.

The 2016 to 2025 Mekong Tourism Sector Strategy will be prepared by ADB consultant Professor, Walter Jaimeson, who is also professor and director of the service and innovation programme at Thailand’s Thammasat University, Bangkok Thailand.

ADB also funded an earlier plan that covered the decade through to 2015 at a cost of around USD170,000.