TTR Weekly
The Mekong Region honours innovative SMEs
Now in its third-year, Experience Mekong Showcase has shortlisted 60 Experience Mekong Collection member businesses for recognition. Ten enterprises from each of the six Greater Mekong Sub-region* countries are now in the running for six top places (one from each GMS country) that recognise small, responsible ...
Friendship bridges that are not friendly
Four ‘Friendship Bridges’ span the wide majestic Mekong River as it creates a meandering borderline between Thailand and Laos but just how friendly are these border bridges? When the first bridge opened back in 1994, spanning the river between Nong Khai in Thailand and Vientiane province ...
Don Ross
Dams destroy the Mekong and damage tourism
Every day thousands of tourists soak up life on the Mekong River, the seventh longest river in Asia. They take cruises, stay at boutique hotels or tuck into a grand lunch at a riverside restaurant. The river is the most compelling reason they travel to a ...
Don Ross
Hoi An faces pollution crisis
The first signs that Hoi An could be heading for an over-tourism crisis are surfacing on Facebook Page comments. Billed as one of Vietnam’s pristine World Heritage sites, Hoi An’s tourism success could backfire due to a failure to tackle pollution. The tiny lanes lined with wooded ...
Mekong mini movie fest returns
Mekong Region’s tourism office has launched the second edition of is popular travel consumer contest Mekong Mini Movie Festival. Last year, the inaugural project logged what the organisers identified as 22,000 campaign followers and 900,000 video views. Keep reading ...
Mega deals lead to false trail
In a major drive to promote travel from neighbouring countries during the last quarter, the Tourism Authority Thailand has teamed up with AirAsia, Bangkok Airways and VietJet Air to offer cheap fares. The so called ‘Mega Deal to ThailandTravel Is a Big Deal” encourages tourists ...
Mekong destinations appeal to under 30s
Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam, three popular Mekong Region destinations, were given high grades on a ‘Cutacut’ ranking of budget-friendly destinations for the under 30s. The India-based digital content company’s ranking placed Vietnam in sixth place with neighbour Cambodia taking the fifth spot and Thailand in ...
Save the Mekong calls for dam review
Pressure is mounting on the Lao PDR government to conduct a fresh impact assessment study of a proposed fourth dam on the lower Mekong River according to Save the Mekong, a coalition of non-government organisations. The call for a review and a fresh impact assessment coincided ...
Mekong has its moment
Mekong Tourism was highlighted alongside AirBnB and Grab in a new research report Data & Digital Platforms: Driving Tourism Growth in Asia Pacific’. The Mekong Tourism Coordinating Office’s social media campaign platform MekongMoments.com, featured in research published by PATA and Tourism Economics, an Oxford Economics ...
MTCO heading for legal status
As 475 delegates gathered, last week, at the Mekong Tourism Forum its leaders – members of the Greater Mekong Sub-region group – were pondering over the ticklish issue of the office’s legal status. Keep reading ...