Sustainable Destination Management
Strategies in the OIC Member Countries
90
Mekong Moments
Mekong Moments is a visual consumer marketing campaign and inspirational travel platform
that collaboratively promotes the GMS as a single tourism destination and drives direct
business to individual businesses through social commerce. Businesses, regardless of type and
size, encourage their guests, staff, and stakeholders to share their experiences via their own
social media accounts by tagging #MekongMoments and the respective hashtag of the
experience (hotel, restaurant, destination, attraction, event, tour, shop, etc.). The user-
generated content is collected on and directs traffic to the respective
websites of the experiences and businesses.
A public-private partnership, Mekong Moments, is executed through a public-private
partnership between the six tourismministries and six companies, including IHG, Small Luxury
Hotels, Yaana Ventures, and Odyssey Tours China to create a sustainable and efficient program
for the GMS. Destination Mekong lead, UNWTO Affiliate Member Chameleon Strategies
developed the concept, which is powered by their ENWOKE technology to build Mekong
Moments with significant input from the travel and tourism industry.
Mekong Mini Movie Festival
The Mekong Minis is a unique film festival that celebrates the many faces and experiences of
the Greater Mekong Subregion and promotes the region as a single tourism destination. It is an
annual regional tourism marketing campaign with its first instance in 2018, supported by all
Tourism Ministries and the private sector in the Greater Mekong Subregion.
The festival is meant to attract amateur and professional movie makers and create a large
amount of content for the region with promotions and screenings internationally.
The Mekong Minis reached over 22 million people in 2018 and won the HSMAI Adrian Gold
Award as the best digital tourism campaign in 2018.
In terms of monitoring and reporting results, a framework for GMS cooperation exists,
including performance targets. MTCO is in charge of tracking result indicators and compiling
progress reports. The main reporting platforms are GMS TWC meetings, the Mekong Tourism
Forum (MTF), GMS tourism minister meetings, and GMS ministerial meetings. 300 In terms of
data collection, all GMS NTOs collect tourism statistics and publish annual tourism statistics by
country.
To measure progress toward achievement of this vision, the GMS TWG monitors (i) the
percentage of international tourists taking multi-country holidays in the GMS, (ii) travel and
tourism’s direct contribution to gross domestic product in each GMS country, and (iii) the
distribution of international tourism receipts among the GMS countries. 301
The Mekong Tourism Coordinating Office is relying on the GMS countries to provide the
information to measure success. A standard reporting structure is not in place at this point in
time. However, data harmonization workshops are being conducted to have access to more
transparent information in the future.
300 Ibid.
301 Mekong Tourism Coordinating Office, Experience Mekong: Greater Mekong Subregion Tourism Marketing Strategy and
Action Plan 2015–2020.