MTF rolls out a workshop

BANGKOK  A tourism marketing workshop will be introduced 15 June, at the start of the Mekong Tourism Forum week, in Danang, Vietnam.
The Mekong Tourism Marketing Workshop has been initiated by the Bangkok based Mekong Tourism Coordinating Office (MTCO) in collaboration with the World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) and the Pacific Asia Travel Association.
“We look forward to partnering with MTCO to showcase approaches that will result in strong benefits for communities in the Mekong Delta region,” said PATA chairman Human Capital Development Committee and Dean, Faculty of Global and Community Studies, Capilano University Chris Bottrill.
Adventure travel, food tourism, community-based travel, river and ocean cruising will all be analysed in separate breakout sessions. Despite the claims, the workshop theme is not new to the MTF, which is in essence a workshop to garner the views of both private and public sectors.
But it is window dressing, for an event that is fast losing its way with top tourism executive giving it a miss for more sales driven events such as ITB Asia that also has a variety of conferences and workshops on the sidelines to consider specialised themes and issues.
Tourism Futures Forum
Jens Thraenhart
UNWTO will host the MTF workshop on river and ocean cruise tourism based on two UNWTO publications: ASEAN River-based Tourism Development and Sustainable Cruise Tourism Development Strategies: Tackling the Challenges in Itinerary Design in Southeast Asia.
“We want to position the GMS as a single tourism destination in a very competitive global tourism landscape,” said Mekong Tourism Coordinating Office executive director Jens Thraenhart.
Thraenhart said the workshop should become an on-going activity to boost the new GMS Tourism Marketing Strategy, supported by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and developed in consultation with the tourism industry in the region.
The Mekong Tourism Forum 2015 will take place at Hotel Novotel Danang Premier Han River, 15 to 19 June with the marketing workshop taking place on the afternoon of 15 June.
Attendance is free to genuine travel industry stakeholders who register online. The event is likely to attract around 150 to 200 travel professionals and government officials.

sourced:ttrweekly.com