Hosted by the Department of Information, Culture, and Tourism of Luang Prabang, in collaboration with the Ministry of Information, Culture, and Tourism of Lao PDR and the Mekong Tourism Coordinating Office, this year’s Mekong Tourism Forum was organised in Luang Prabang on 6-9 June under the theme Prosper with Purpose in the UNESCO Heritage Town of Luang Prabang.
On 7-8 June, ECPAT International and The Code invited Forum participants to take part in workshops on child protection in travel and tourism and how to collaborate in combating child exploitation. The workshops were facilitated by ECPAT Regional Coordinator for South East and East Asia Rangsima Deesawade.
The Mekong Tourism Forum, first organised in 1996, provides a cooperative platform for stakeholders in the tourism industry to discuss the development, marketing and promotion of travel to, from and within the Greater Mekong Subregion. It presents an inclusive, interactive and results-oriented opportunity to encourage public and private sector participation in representing the Greater Mekong Subregion as a single destination.
The Mekong Tourism Forum works to achieve three main objectives:
– To raise the profile of the Greater Mekong Subregion as a single tourist destination
– To provide an industry-wide platform for the public and private sectors to address sub-regional tourism issues
– To expand marketing networks and opportunities for promoting the Greater Mekong Subregion and pool collective resources to create intra-industry synergies