According to Director of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism Nguyen Trung Khanh, six GMS member countries need to continue their cooperation and create new attractive products to revive the sector from the long-term impacts of COVID-19 and against stronger competition from countries outside the region.
He stated that the public sector and private investors must work together, with the former providing support in terms of investment in tourism infrastructure and training programmes, and the latter focusing on tourism products and services, accommodation and transportation.
Khanh asked member countries to continue joining hands in effectively implementing the Mekong Tourism Sector Strategy 2016-2025, action plans and tourism projects for the Greater Mekong Subregion.
The Vietnamese official also called for better public-private cooperation, stepping-up of destination promotion, enhancing tourism product quality, upgrading tourism infrastructure and accelerating digital transformation in the sector.
For her part, CEO of the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) Liz Ortiguera stated that the crisis caused by the pandemic underlines the need to reshape tourism in a way that is more sustainable, inclusive and resilient.
Wouter Schaken, the senior sustainable tourism specialist at the Asian Development Bank, also made recommendations on tourism policies to ensure its resilience and sustainability.
