Mekong Sub-region mayors to discuss tourism cooperation

Mayors of the cities from the expanded Greater Mekong Sub-region will arrive in HCMC to discuss tourism cooperation, product enhancement and youth tourism promotion. The organizing committee of the International Travel Expo 2012 (ITE 2012) said leaders of Phnom Penh (Cambodia), Vientiane (Laos), Yangon (Myanmar), Kunming (China), Bangkok (Thailand), HCMC and Jeju and Busan of South Korea will attend a special conference from September 12 to 14 on the occasion of the expo. The conference will find ways to translate into reality the joint statement for tourism cooperation signed between the tourism ministers of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam at ITE 2011. Apart from mayors and tourism officials, each city will have 10 travel firms joining the event. The conference will focus on promoting tourism images of the cities to lure more international tourists from key markets. The event will also introduce potentials and connectivity in investment and product development of the expanded Greater Mekong Sub-region through specific cooperative projects. According to the organizing committee, HCMC expects to sign a memorandum on tourism development cooperation with Phnom Penh, Vientiane and Yangon on the forthcoming occasion. Tour operators will also sign deals to develop tourism products. Moreover, the development models of tourism product development projects will be introduced at the conference to garner comments from officials and businesses. ITE is an annual national tourism expo in HCMC. The event this year themed “Four nations – One destination” will take place from September 13 to 15 at the Saigon Exhibition & Convention and Center in District 7. The organizer expects to welcome 200 international tour operators from 30 nations and territories. Some 150 enterprises participated in last year’s event. Within the framework of the expo, many cooperation programs to develop tourist destinations have been signed between Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia over the past time.

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