International Travel Expo (ITE) tagte in HCMC (E)

Ho Chi Minh City, 17.09.2013 – The 9th International Travel Expo (ITE) in the Vietnamese industrial center of Ho Chi Minh City opened with a high-powered Tourism Senior Officials Meeting on September 11 at the world famous Rex Hotel.

Ministers and other senior officials of five countries met to discuss the new Ayeyarwady, Chao Phraya, Mekong Economic Co-operation Strategy (ACMECS), which aims to promote and market the Lower Mekong Countries of Myanmar, Lao PDR, Thailand, Cambodia, and Viet Nam.

This promising scheme builds on the Greater Mekong-Subregion (GMS) activities, which excisted for 20 years, but now working without China. The five leaders agreed on the “Five Countries One Destination” campaign as follows:

High on the agenda was the creation of a single visa for the region. Also, the ministers agreed to strengthen the development of human resources in the tourism industry. This includes ensuring safety and security for tourists. From utmost importance will be the active co-operation with donor countries such as Japan or Germany amongst others.

At the Mayor Summit, the mayors of Ho Chi Minh City, Phnom Penh, Bangkok, Yangon, and Vientiane came together to discuss the future of co-operation between these cities of the Lower Mekong.

From September 12-14, some 300 exhibitors, sellers and buyers from 50 countries gathered to actively promote and market their individual tourism products. AT/Reinhard Hohler