As a social business, Soksabike aims to provide tourists with the chance to experience the authentic
Cambodia and to promote a direct tourist spending to the local entrepreneurs.
Elephant Conservation Center
ECO Guide for Hospitality Businesses & Schools
As ASEAN pursues greater regional integration and the development
of a single economic community, advancements in the region’s
aviation industry are essential to boost economic connectivity and
tourism. Half the world’s population live within five hours of ASEAN,
making it a natural transportation hub for visiting the region’s sunny
beaches, accessing growing economic opportunities.
Capitalization Journal
As ASEAN pursues greater regional integration and the development
of a single economic community, advancements in the region’s
aviation industry are essential to boost economic connectivity and
tourism. Half the world’s population live within five hours of ASEAN,
making it a natural transportation hub for visiting the region’s sunny
beaches, accessing growing economic opportunities.
Valued Paid Recognized
As ASEAN pursues greater regional integration and the development
of a single economic community, advancements in the region’s
aviation industry are essential to boost economic connectivity and
tourism. Half the world’s population live within five hours of ASEAN,
making it a natural transportation hub for visiting the region’s sunny
beaches, accessing growing economic opportunities.
Streets International
As a social business, Soksabike aims to provide tourists with the chance to experience the authentic
Cambodia and to promote a direct tourist spending to the local entrepreneurs.
Second Mekong Hero Celebrated at 2021 Destination Mekong Summit
During its second Summit on 21-22 October, Destination Mekong proudly honored late Srey Bandaul, co-founder of Phare Ponleu Selpak in Cambodia, as its second Mekong Hero.
Continue readingDestination Mekong aligns with other tourism leaders to sign the Glasgow Declaration on climate action in tourism
18 November 2021, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Destination Mekong became a proud signatory of the Glasgow Declaration on Climate Action in Tourism at the COP26.
As part of its efforts to play a leadership role in the global tourism community, Destination Mekong became a signatory and launch partner of the Glasgow Declaration on climate Action in Tourism, which was launched on 4 November 2021 during the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26).
Founded in 2017, Destination Mekong (DM) is the regional tourism organization dedicated to championing the Mekong region, comprising Cambodia, PR China (Provinces of Guangxi and Yunnan), Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand, and Viet Nam, as a sustainable and inclusive tourism destination.
The Glasgow Declaration on Climate Action in Tourism unites travel and tourism behind a common set of pathways for climate action, aligning the sector with global commitments and catalyzing collaborative solutions to the many challenges facing businesses and destinations globally.
The Glasgow Declaration encourages the acceleration of climate action in tourism by securing commitments to reduce emissions in tourism by at least 50% over the next decade and achieve Net Zero as soon as possible before 2050.
As a signatory of the Glasgow Declaration on Climate Action in Tourism, Destination Mekong has committed to aligning its actions with the latest scientific recommendations to ensure its approach remains consistent with a rise of no more than 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels by 2100. It also has agreed to deliver or update climate action plans within 12 months, align programs with the five pathways of the Declaration (Measure, Decarbonise, Regenerate, Collaborate, Finance), report publicly on an annual basis, and work in a collaborative spirit, sharing good practices and solutions, and disseminating information.
“More than ever, the global tourism industry has a unique opportunity to demonstrate its transformative power through inspiring and driving climate action. It’s not only an emergency but also a matter of human dignity.” Catherine GERMIER-HAMEL, CEO, Destination Mekong
The Glasgow Declaration on Climate Action in Tourism brings together the latest research and global expertise to galvanize climate action. It will be hosted within the One Planet Sustainable Tourism Programme’s website, supported by Recommended Actions for tourism stakeholders across the world to consider as part of their action planning, alongside other resources. As the declaration states: “A just transition to Net Zero before 2050 will only be possible if tourism’s recovery accelerates the adoption of sustainable consumption and production, and redefines our future success to consider not only economic value but rather the regeneration of ecosystems, biodiversity, and communities.”
The need for a globally consistent approach for climate action in tourism has been made clear, notably through research into CO2 emissions carried out by UNWTO/ITF and released at the UNFCCC COP25 in December 2019. This showed that transport-related emissions from tourism were forecast to increase by 25% by 2030 from 2016 levels, against the current ambition scenario.
As the global tourism industry is slowly getting back on track, Destination Mekong (DM) has recently appointed a new Executive Team composed of Catherine Germier-Hamel as CEO, Gerrit Kruger as Chief Marketing Officer, Gavin Bell as Chief Development Officer, and Jens Uwe Parkitny as a strategic advisor, in an honorary capacity, effective 1 November.
This ‘dream team’ was formed by Jens Thraenhart, Founder of Destination Mekong and former Executive Director of the Mekong Tourism Coordinating Office (MTCO), before starting a new career as CEO of Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc.
GMS Tourism Recovery Communications Plan
As ASEAN pursues greater regional integration and the development
of a single economic community, advancements in the region’s
aviation industry are essential to boost economic connectivity and
tourism. Half the world’s population live within five hours of ASEAN,
making it a natural transportation hub for visiting the region’s sunny
beaches, accessing growing economic opportunities.
UNWTO and Netflix partner on screen tourism push
UNWTO and Netflix have partnered on the publication of a report which looks at the role of film and series as drivers for tourism and cultural affinity.
The Global Report on Cultural Affinity and Screen Tourism explores the growing affection one has towards a particular country or culture displayed on the screen.
The findings of the research were presented in Madrid at the Iberseries Platino Industria, the largest international event for professionals linked to the audiovisual industry in Spanish and Portuguese.
The report’s ultimate goal is to support policymakers and key stakeholders within the tourism sector to implement policies that make their destinations attractive for audio-visual producers.
It also aims to help in the building of strategies to promote tourism and consumption of local culture, investing in skills and training to develop the local film and creative sectors, as well as integrating tourism and showcasing culture at film festivals to deepen the global audiences’ knowledge.
UNWTO secretary general Zurab Pololikashvili said: “Both tourism and the audiovisual sectors celebrate and promote culture, support jobs and provide opportunities in diverse locations. The joint work of UNWTO and Netflix will help destinations realise the potential benefits of screen tourism.”
Dean Garfield, vice-president, public policy, Netflix, added: “As highlighted in this research, we have been able to demonstrate conclusively what we instinctively already believed, which is that alongside the desire to travel and visit destinations, exposure to screen content also leads to greater interest in heritage, culture, language, and developing interpersonal relationships.
“This truly demonstrates that the creative industries, cultural exchange, storytelling, and tourism are all interlinked and can transform the way communities perceive and connect with each other.”
Following the presentation of the Global Report, experts on tourism and the audio-visual industry shared their knowledge and insights into changing trends in screen tourism and its positive impacts on strengthening cultural affinity, as well as the role of online streaming services in promoting tourism and cultural affinity between people, cultures and countries in line with the 2030 Agenda.
Read the full article at TTG Asia: https://www.ttgasia.com/2021/10/05/unwto-and-netflix-partner-on-screen-tourism-push/
Cardamom Tented Camp in Cambodia Earns Green Destinations’ Top 100 Global Accolade for 2021
Cardamom Tented Camp ecolodge in Cambodia has been announced by Green Destinations as one of the 2021 Top 100 Destination Sustainability Stories in the world.
The announcement was made 5 October in the online annual conference of Green Destinations, a non-profit organisation for sustainable tourism, based in The Netherlands. The annual programme has been in existence since 2014.
Cardamom Tented Camp was chosen by the judges among 28 tourism experiences around the world in the Nature and Ecotourism category. The other 72 winners were in the categories of Localisation and Decarbonising the Local Supply Chain; Communities and Culture; Environment and Climate; and Tourism Reset and Recovery.
“Since Cardamom Tented Camp opened in 2017 we’ve helped protect 18,000 hectares of forest by channelling income from the camp to support 12 forest rangers who have done a terrific job of reducing illegal logging, wildlife hunting and sandbank dredging,” said Willem Niemeijer, CEO of YAANA Ventures, the camp operator.
“Right from day one our slogan has been, ‘Your Stay Keeps the Forest Standing’. The Green Destination judges saw those details of our work. They recognised that our sustainability story as a world-class and inspirational conservation tourism project could be emulated in other places,” he said.
In an earlier Q&A session for the online conference on 5 October, Niemeijer told Green Destination online conference attendees that Cardamom Tented Camp was based on three principles: a belief in visitor dispersion to off-the-beaten-track places away from over-touristed hubs; a commitment to work with experts, such as NGO Wildlife Alliance; and a full-hearted belief in the triple bottom line of people, planet and profit, which had to be unwavering if the project was going to be truly sustainable, said Niemeijer.
In an official statement announcing the Top 100, Green Destinations said: “With the tourism sector facing very challenging times in the past year or so, the resilience and hard work of these destinations to become more responsible should be celebrated. The 2021 selection was determined by the quality, transferability, and, more than ever, by the level of innovation of the stories.”
Albert Salman, the President of Green Destinations told the audience that the objective of the top 100 sustainability stories programme was to “inspire responsible tourism leadership around the world”.
The full Green Destinations’ list of Top 100 Sustainability Stories for 2021 can be viewed here.
Further information on Cardamom Tented Camp, including its back story, its other awards and guest experiences, is available here.