What will save Mekong tourism?

DAN JORDAN, The West Australian
May 23, 2011

The West Australian ©

Political instability, branding issues and airport management are hampering tourism growth in the Mekong region, according to Khiri Travel.

The Mekong Tourism Forum will take place on May 27-28, in Laos, and destination management company Khiri Travel has asked the country managers in Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam to identify unnecessary obstacles which affect tourism in the Mekong region.

Included in the issues are practical, marketing, political and branding aspects of the area.

Khiri Travel has identified 10 issues that need to be resolved in order for the Mekong region to maintain sustainable growth in tourism.

It says the first solution must be political stability in Thailand and an end to the Thai-Khmer border conflict. Indochina destinations rely heavily on Thailand as a gateway and Bangkok protests and airport closures can affect the whole region. Political and social stability in Thailand benefit the whole Mekong region. There is a Thai election set for July 3 and Khiri Travel hopes this will bring greater stability for the region.

Khiri Travel says getting multiple visas in the region is hard and believes that automatic multiple visas would drive up tourism growth. Currently, multi-destination visas are not available. One visa for each destination is slowing tourism growth. With no visas or one ASEAN Schengen visa multi-destination travel would greatly increase.

Better management of Suvarnabhumi Airport would greatly benefit tourism sustainability because of its important position as an aviation hub. Currently aircraft are not assigned gates and passengers are forced to board buses after disembarking on the tarmac. Long immigration queues and a variety of scams are also problematic for the airport. The Airports Authority of Thailand said it want to make the top five in the Skytrax World Airport Awards. It currently sits at number 13.

Khiri Travel also believes that aviation protectionism needs to end. It claims this is particularly evident in Koh Samui and Siem Reap where Bangkok Airways has an big market share. As a result competition is marginalised, ticket prices remain high and tourism growth is slowed considerably.

The Mekong River system is under threat from high density hotel construction on beaches, mining and rubber tree farming. Because eco tourism is in demand and is beneficial for the Laos tourism market Khiri Travel says it makes sense to protect the region from resulting mudslides, flooding and other disasters.

Green issues in urban zones will also be addressed with a push for dedicated pedestrian zones in Bangkok and Ho Chi Minh City. This will reduce noise, pollution and will benefit the tourism industry as well as the population. This will be addressed at the forum, using San Francisco, Singapore and New York as examples of high population destinations that recognise the need to maintain a significant percentage of green public space.

Number seven on Khiri's list is a call for better infrastructure because tourism for shopping, dining nightlife and heritage is growing. The opening of Bangkok's BTS skytrain and MRT underground trains have all resulted in a positive changes for tourism in the city but the Bangkok BRT bus system has been dubbed a white elephant.

Destination branding campaigns need to be reconsidered and refreshed. Currently, the Amazing Thailand Campaign is associated with political problems and is overshadowing the message of amazing beaches, food and service. The forum will look at how Vietnam has opened up the national identity slogan to a public contest and how South Africa's 'It's Possible' and Egypt's 'Where it all begins' campaigns have been successful.

Coming to the end of their agenda, Khiri Travel will highlight the effect of red tape on sustainable tourism growth. Problems arise for hotel investors, with business regulations, building approvals and licensing contradictions all affecting progress. Khiri Travel says these should all be simplified to enable sustainable tourism growth.

Khiri Travel's final call is for governments of the Greater Mekong Region to start thinking regionally, not nationally. As with the 2015 ASEAN plan for integration, the integration of Mekong region governments will vastly benefit tourism and create wealth for all nations.