This year's theme of the forum is 'Tourism – a driver for cultural heritage preservation and poverty alleviation'. It underlines the importance of sensible tourism for identifying and restoring cultural heritage as well as sustainable attitude towards fragile monuments of the past that should be preserved for posterity. The forum will also focus on how the sensible use of cultural heritage and development of tourism can contribute in boosting local economies and improving the life of communities.
The first day of the forum will feature the launch of the new Mekong Trends Report on Responsible Tourism in the GMS, the introduction of the new Experience Mekong Collection website, and the screening of some of the most inspiring videos of the Mekong Mini Movie Festival campaign.
On the second day, the participants will head over to the ancient heritage town of Xizhou, some 20 km north of Dali Old Town to evaluate the preservation efforts that have been undertaken in Xizhou, once an important trading post along the Tea Horse Road.
The Mekong Tourism Forum is an annual event that provides a cooperative platform for public and private sector stakeholders in the tourism industry to discuss the development, marketing and promotion of travel to, from and within the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS), and monitor sustainable and responsible tourism growth.
Mekong Tourism Forum 2019 Scheduled for May, 28-29
News in Asia
This year's Mekong Tourism Forum (MTF) will take place on May, 28–29 in Dali and the ancient heritage town of Xizhou in Yunnan, China. Registration for the free of charge event for travel and tourism professionals is already opened.