DESTINATION MEKONG ANNOUNCED THIRD MEKONG HERO
7 December2023, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Destination Mekong has announced that Brian Linden, the founder and owner of the Linden Centre in Dali, Yunnan, is the third Mekong Hero.
Mekong Heroes are individuals who make a significant impact on the people in the region by inspiring them to strive and make an impact to improve communities through sustainability, inclusiveness and providing opportunities for the future.
During the 2023 Destination Mekong Summit in Phnom Penh, Destination Mekong has announced its third Mekong Hero, Brian Linden, founder and owner of the Linden Centre in Dali, Yunnan, China. Brian follows Potjana Suansri, Founder of the Thailand Community Based Tourism Institute (CBT-I), and the late Srey Bandaul, founder of PHARE in Cambodia, the two previous Mekong Heroes.
Born and raised in Chicago and educated at Johns Hopkins and Stanford University, Brian was granted a scholarship to study in Beijing in 1984 and spent the following three years in China. He moved to Dali in 2004 with his wife and two sons. There, he preserved a nationally protected Bai-style courtyard house built in 1948. He converted this into The Linden Centre to create a sustainable model of tourism development and heritage preservation.
Now, the Linden Centre has six sites, each focusing on preserving existing historical traditions by incorporating the villagers in the planning and managing heritage hotels.
Brian’s approach is to show the benefits of heritage protection and sustainability through example. He inspires his communities to preserve their heritage and reevaluate their sustainability approach. Through this bottom-up approach, the Linden Centre demonstrates how a social business can be financially sustainable and resilient, as well as helping the government recognize the social benefits for locals.
The integration with locals and communities is stressed at the Linden Centre.
“Development has to happen organically from within the community,” says Linden. “It is important to instill pride in the locals for their heritage and community, to increase the emotional value and counterbalance the potential value received from outside investors, who might change a community for the worse.”
“Brian exemplifies how individuals who have a passion for collaboration, preservation, and sustainability make communities better through tourism,” says Catherine Germier-Hamel, CEO of Destination Mekong. “After Potjana Suansri and Srey Bandaul, Brian Linden is the continuation of telling the stories of inspirational individuals in the region. We want to congratulate Brian and the entire team at The Linden Centre for their wonderful and important work.”
“It is a tremendous honor to be selected as this year’s Mekong Hero by the Board of Destination Mekong, especially since this is a recognition by the entire Mekong Region’s private sector, ” said Mr. Linden.
Mekong Heros are nominated by the public on the Destination Mekong website, evaluated, and then voted on by the executive board of Destination Mekong. They are an extension of the Mekong Faces program, which tells inspiring stories of individuals in the tourism sector. Both are published annually in the Mekong Stories book at MekongStories.com.
To nominate individuals to be recognized as Mekong Heroes, go to https://www.destinationmekong.com/mekong-heroes/. To be part of our engaged tourism community and enjoy the benefits and opportunities offered by Destination Mekong, go to https://www.destinationmekong.com/membership/ or contact us at info@destinationmekong.com.
-ENDS
During two days, hundreds of participants attended the 2022 DMS in person or online, including high-level officials, private-sector decision-makers, professionals, influencers, social entrepreneurs, educators and students involved in travel, tourism and hospitality in the Mekong region.
The second day of the 2022 DMS started with a business matchmaking breakfast hosted by silver sponsor Control Union Cambodia. ‘Control Union is pleased to join the Destination Mekong Summit 2022 to support sustainable tourism development in the region. We must reinforce the tourists’ positive experience, respect the environment, people’s rights, culture, and traditions and promote business viability over time. We are strongly committed to working with all stakeholders in the tourism industry in capacity building and certification services,’ mentioned Dilum Wijenayake, General Manager of Control Union Cambodia.
‘Global travel and tourism are making a comeback, but it is important that we don’t revert to old behaviours,” said Jedsada Taweekan, head of WWF-Greater Mekong’s Illegal Wildlife Trade program, adding that ‘The way forward must be green and sustainable, and consider the needs of wildlife and the environment in addition to the needs of travellers. Therefore, working with the travel and tourism sector to encourage tourists to have responsible tourism experiences – at the minimum by refraining from consuming wild animal meat or buying wildlife products as souvenirs – is a small but effective way to promote positive change in tourist behaviour.’
Thierry Tea, VP at OCIC Group, stressed that ‘At OCIC, we are excited to explore collaborations with key players from the public and private sectors as well as non-profit organisations from the Tourism industry to showcase more interesting areas such as Preah Vihar, Battambang or Mondulkiri. This was made possible thanks to the network assembled by Destination Mekong. ‘Mr Tea added, ‘ With over 550 employees within our Hospitality division, OCIC and Canadia Group strongly believe in continuing to work on synergies with Destination Mekong and its partners. OCIC is committed to investing and developing innovative initiatives for sustainable and responsible Tourism in Cambodia and the Region. We are looking to continue contributing in shaping talents with skillsets and mindsets for a more inclusive ecosystem with new partners thanks to this platform’s channels.’
