BANGKOK, 6 August 2020:Travel may have come to a standstill in Mekong Region countries, but itwont stop tourism stakeholders engaging in make-believe during a half-dayvirtual summit hosted by the Mekong Tourism Coordinating Office 25 August.

The Virtual Destination Mekong Summit willbe organised by public-private partnership Destination Mekong, with thesponsorship of UNWTO affiliate member Chameleon Strategies, under the theme ofBalanced Tourism Recovery for a Better Future.

Registration is free. For the programme, and registration visithttps://www.destinationmekong.com/dms2020/

Pursuing the lofty notion that the travelindustry can manage a post-Covid-19 balanced recovery and create a betterfuture is a big ask. In reality, tourism stakeholders are fighting forsurvival. Any kind of recovery would be welcomed, and as for a better future,most tour operators are more concerned that as long as governments keep bordersshut to safeguard the health of the populace, they have no future.

It remains to be seen if the virtual summitcan reach conclusions and present recommendations that might steer thegovernments of the six Mekong Region countries to establish a consensus on healthpolicy and travel directives that will also throw a lifeline to the tourism andhospitality industries that are drowning fast in the global Covid-19 storm.

It will need to address the fact that theregions tour operators have not served any genuine tourists since mid-March.Their rice bowl has shattered, and experts predict that within the next threeto four months at least 50% of the Mekong Regions travel firms will closeshop. Big names will go.

As long as the 14-day quarantine ruleapplies in the Mekong Region tourism is dead in the water.

The introduction of expensive insurancecover and even cash deposits (Cambodia) is another deterrent at the bordergate.

Finally, travel bubbles are a mythicalstory for the travel media to spin and provide false hope to small enterprisesstripped of their cash flow.

Governments in the Mekong Region need to domore to financially support tour companies to reinvent themselves and possiblyfind ways to tap domestic markets no matter how small while they navigate apath to survival.

There is a need for more clarity, and travel rules should be streamlined and made less cumbersome. The entry procedures need to be better managed and identical in all Southeast Asian nations to build travel confidence. When Mekong Region countries erect obstacle courses to prevent their own citizens from returning home, then we can only assume it is even more difficult for foreigners to contemplate travel to the Mekong Region. That situation could continue until late 2021.

The first case of Covid-19 outside of Chinaoccurred in Thailand, 13 January 2020. Seven months later, Covid-19 fatigue issetting in across the region. The end game is not yet in sight. We fear secondand third waves and entire health systems in all Mekong Region countries arestressed to breaking point.

Medical experts warn Covid-19 is rumblingaround our region. Balance and better are not the watchwords. For thetravel and hospitality firms at ground zero how to survive and avert disasterare top of mind.

IATA predicts airlines will not see asubstantial recovery until 2024. By then, the entire travel landscape will havechanged dramatically. Summit attendees should grapple with the real issues theones that will mend the rice bowl fast for thousands of SMEs suffering thefinancial fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Destination Mekong Summit will be emceed by well-known academic JutamasWisangsing of Perfect Link Consulting, and Mekong Tourism Coordinating Office executive director, Jens Thraenhart.

It will have two short takeaway sessions,led by Horwath HTL Global Tourism Practice Leader SiniaTopalovi, calling infrom Croatia.

The opening keynote will be given by the author of the upcoming book Travel & Covid-19, Professor Dr Simon Hudson of South Carolina University in the USA, who will look at case studies from all over the world.

Reflections from past crisis and ideas will be discussed by WeearasakKowsurat, a Thai senator and former minister of tourism and Sports of Thailand and Htay Aung, former minister of hotels and tourism.

Steven Schipani from the Southeast AsiaDepartment of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) will lead a session with thevice-chairman of the Vietnam Administration of Tourism (VNAT), Ha Van Sieu, and the director-general of theMinistry of Tourism of Cambodia, Rathasak Thong, about economic developmentmeasures as well as tourism recovery in the region.

Finally, the World Travel and Tourism Council CEO, Gloria Guevara, former UNWTO Secretary-General, Taleb Rifai, former minister of tourism and Sports of Thailand, KobkarnWattanavrangkul, and the Pacific Asia Travel Association CEO Mario Hardy will present recommendations and opinions.

The rest is here:

Mekong Virtual Summit must tackle realities - TTR Weekly