BANGKOK, 29 March 2012:
Mekong River tourism has the potential to be the star attraction of the Mekong Region, but there needs to be stronger regional support and partnerships, said ASEAN-Japan Centre director, In Thoeun.
Mr Thoeun was speaking at a seminar hosted by the Tourism Authority of Thailand and ASEAN-Japan Centre (AJC), Tuesday.He was commenting on river tourism mainly in the four Mekong Region countries; Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, but with references to Thailand as a gateway destination
“AJC conducted a survey and one of the findings suggested that river tourism in this area would appeal to Japanese travelers, but information on the river was limited,” said Mr Thoeun.
The seminar was attended by just 50 participants from the five countries including Thailand, focusing on the potential of river tourism.
The six countries of the Mekong Region (Cambodia, China (Yunnan and Guangxi Zhuang), Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam) have funded a tourism office since 2000 and last year it identified the need to promote river related tourism
Earlier, an Asian Development Bank Tourism Strategy for the region was revised to state that the core strategy should focus on the Mekong River fanning out to include routes further afield.But that is as far as the Mekong Tourism Office has gone and very little information is available on specific river related attractions even on its official website.
The Asean-Japan Centre confirmed that in 2010, there were 188,400 Japanese who joined river related tourism activities.“Currently, 43% of Japanese cruise in European countries, while 30% cruise in Southeast Asian countries,” said Mr Thoeun. “With proper development and cooperation, that percentage could change.
“We can position Mekong River as a shared tourism asset among ASEAN countries,” said TAT Services Promotion Division director, Prommate Nathomtong. “Instead of competing with each other we can share the work and benefits to help establish and market river cruises on the Mekong River.”Mr Prommate added that there were still some difficulties working at country level.
“There are two things to be concerned about; first is the difficulty in visa processing as the Mekong River passes through many countries so visas are needed to access to each country,” he said. “Safety is another issue
”Earlier this year, China sent patrol boats to ply the river to fight piracy and end attacks on cargo vessels that ply the Mekong River near the Golden Triangle.Another issue not mentioned officially at the seminar was the vast swings in water levels on the river that made it very difficult to navigate safely year-round.The Chinese are blamed for damming the river at its upper reaches, but irrigation dams are being built downstream on the 6,000 km long river that eventually spills out in the South China Sea in southern Vietnam.
