Sustainable Destination Management
Strategies in the OIC Member Countries
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some remarked that the MTCO and the GMS Tourism Corridor should work toward becoming
less dependent on the ADB, which of course, has its own agenda.340
Public-Private Cooperation: On occasion, the interview partners positively assessed the joint
cooperation of the six countries, which were represented mainly by the Ministries of Tourism.
However, they criticized the fact that the public sector alone makes the principal decisions
regarding responsible tourism development in the GMS, and that representatives from the
private sector or even local NGOs/CSO who work in this field are not given the opportunity to
be involved in the decision-making process, such as “Myanmar Tourism Marketing is not a
semi-government body and could not attend such a meeting easily”341 and “it is driven by the
government with limited capacities or rather unequal capacities,…the buy-in of the private
sector is limited.”342 Furthermore, direct communication between the six countries is possible
only at the ministry level. For example, if bordering/neighboring destinations such as Pakse (in
Laos) and Siam Reap (in Cambodia) want to cooperate jointly, they cannot communicate with
each other directly at the secondary level.
Marketing and Branding: The interview partners repeatedly lauded MTCO’s marketing efforts,
such as the Mekong Moments, Mekong Mini Movie Festival, Mekong Tourism Forum, and
Experience Mekong Collection, especially in recent years. However, they questioned whether it
makes sense to promote the brand of the Mekong or Mekong countries whilst at the same time
promoting competing brands (such as ASEAN). It was recommended that research by an
independent entity be undertaken. Furthermore, they voiced concern that the area of the
Greater Mekong Subregion is too broad; instead, the focus should be on river-based tourism
alone to reach the market, because there is value in promoting the Mekong as a destination
rather than all six countries. On a different site, it was mentioned about opening up for further
cooperation with ASEAN. However, taking all the current strengths and limitations into
account, this corridor might only survive in the long-term if public-private sector cooperation
is enforced. 343
340 Interview with former Director of Swiss Contact Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar
341 Interview with chairwoman of Myanmar Tourism Federation
342 Interview with former Swisscontact Director of Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar
343 Interview with Executive Director of MTCO