Regional Cooperation in Tourism: the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Tourism and poverty reduction

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Regional Cooperation in Tourism the Greater
Mekong Subregion (GMS)Tourism and poverty
reduction

• Lao Ecotourism Forum
• 26 July 2007
• Vientiane
• Alfredo Perdiguero, Senior Economist
• Asian Development Bank

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Rationale for multi-country cooperation in Tourism

• Tourism can be a tool for sustainable economic
  development, poverty reduction and heritage
  conservation
• Not many experiences of multi-country cooperation
  in tourism (Caribbean, Pacific Islands, Europe)
• Lack of a theory of international cooperation in
  tourism

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Rationale for multi-country cooperation in Tourism

• Increase attractiveness of tourist destination
  (complementary tourism products /circuits, single
  visa)
• Save resources (joint marketing activities,
  shared use of tourism infrastructure, natural
  parks)
• Better distribution of tourism benefits
• Share best and worst practices
• Deal with crises (terrorism, disease)

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The Greater Mekong Subregion
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GMS Strategic Position in Asia

• Strategic location
• Transportation cross road (air, sea and land)
• Large regional markets (China and India)

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Strong Tourism Assets

• Unique
• Precious
• Rich
• Diverse

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Unique Cultural and Historical Assets
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Precious Natural Assets
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Rich and Diverse Living Cultures
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Major Urban Tourism Centers
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International Tourism - a major growth engine for
the GMS

• More than 20 million arrivals in 2006 (20 on
  2004)
• Growing 8 per annum since 1995
• The challenge is not to increase the number of
  tourists but to
• - increase tourism income
• - better distribute benefits across regions and
  income groups
• - ensure sustainability (economic and
  environmental)

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Air Transportation Network

• 16 international airports
• 70 million passengers p.a.
• 8 growth p.a.
• Low cost carriers
• Suvarnabhumi
• Airport, Bangkok
• 125 million passengers by 2010

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Facilitation of travel

• Increased number of international checkpoints
• Visa on arrival available in more checkpoints
• Improved access to visa extensions
• Visa exemption for key markets (Japan, Korea)
• No visa for ASEAN citizens
• GMS single visa (Thailand, Cambodia)
• Cross Border Transportation Agreement will
  facilitate the movement of cars and buses within
  the region

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GMS Infrastructure Improvement 1992-2012
Economic Corridors Can they become Tourism
Corridors?
As of 1992
As of 2004
Projected by 2012
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Key challenges for the GMS Tourism Sector

• Rapid growth in arrivals over the next decade due
  to improved connectivity especially border
  tourism.
• Highly concentrated pattern of tourism, with
  limited poverty reduction impact.
• Insufficient resources allocated to develop
  products and promote the GMS as a single
  destination.
• Lack of a logical spatial framework guiding
  regional investment in tourism-related
  infrastructure investment.

• Weak human resource development capacities in the
  public and private sector leading to weak
  facility and service quality standards.
• Limited participation by the private sector.
• Insufficient attention to the sustainable
  management of key cultural, natural and urban
  tourism resources.
• Uncoordinated approach and industry indifference
  to managing potential negative social impacts of
  tourism.
• Difficulties in the movement of tourists across
  borders.

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The GMS Tourism Sector Strategy (2006-2015)

• Objective
• To develop and promote the Mekong as a single
  destination, offering a diversity of good quality
  and high-yielding subregional products that help
  to distribute the benefits of tourism more
  widely add to the tourism development efforts of
  each GMS country and contribute to poverty
  reduction, gender equality and empowerment of
  women, and sustainable development, while
  minimizing any adverse impacts.

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Strategic Directions for GMS Tourism Cooperation
until 2015

• Marketing foster the development of
  multi-country tourism in the GMS by stimulating
  demand for quality subregional culture, nature
  and adventure products from high-yield markets
  through joint promotional activities.
• Spatial development focus development upon
  priority tourism zones where there is a good
  intersection between access, tourism resources
  and poverty.
• Tourism-related Infrastructure Development
  linking tourism-related infrastructure in GMS
  priority zones and circuits to the GMS
  transportation network and developing
  tourism-related infrastructure within these to
  distribute the benefits of tourism widely.
• Human Resource Development focus upon upgrading
  the skills and capacities of tourism managers,
  trainers, and the tourism education and training
  institutions to deliver quality service.

• Heritage Conservation Management promote higher
  standards in the management of natural and
  cultural resources for conservation and tourism
  purposes.
• Social Impact Management promote a more
  coordinated and integrated approach to the
  management of the adverse social impacts of
  tourism.
• Pro-poor and Equitable Distribution of Benefits
  promote patterns of tourism development that help
  reduce the incidence of poverty and increase
  rural incomes.
• Private Sector Participation encourage private
  sector participation and partnerships in
  planning, investment and marketing of the GMS
  tourism sector.
• Facilitating the Movement of Tourists Address
  impediments to travel to and within the GMS
  giving special attention to visa and border
  processing issues.

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Strategic Programs

1. Marketing the subregion as a single destination
2. Human resource development
3. Heritage conservation and management of negative
   social impacts
4. Pro-poor tourism development
5. Cross-border facilitation
6. Private sector participation
7. Tourism-related infrastructure

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Strategic Programs

• 1. Marketing
• Establishing the Mekong Tourism Office (MTO) to
  become a regional tourism marketing and promotion
  board
• Developing and implementing a GMS marketing plan
  under the brand image of The Mekong.
• Developing and promoting cross-border
  culture-nature-adventure products.

• 2.Human Resource Development
• Capacity building of middle level officials in
  NTOs and other government agencies that impact on
  tourism
• Training trainers in hospitality skills in
  vocational institutions
• Upgrading the capacity of Deans, Professors and
  Lecturers in tourism academic institutions

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Strategic Programs

• 3. Heritage Social Impact Management
• Enhancing coordination between cultural and
  natural heritage agencies and NTOs
• Capacity building of cultural and natural site
  managers in tourism management
• Management and mitigation of negative social
  impacts

• 4. Pro-poor Tourism Development
• Develop tourism products in poor areas (CBT).
• Linking the poor to the tourism industry through
  value chains
• Mainstreaming pro-poor tourism approaches in
  national poverty strategies and tourism
  policies.

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Strategic Programs

• 5. Private Sector Participation
• Strengthening tourism-related SMEs
• Developing partnerships between the private and
  the public sector (tourism marketing and
  promotion boards, projects, destinations)
• Tourism Forums (Luang Prabang 2006 and HCMC 2007)
• Promote socially responsible tourism in the
  industry

• 6.Facilitate Movement of Tourists
• Increasing the number of border checkpoints
• Single GMS single visa
• Reducing border checkpoint processing times,
  costs and obstacles
• Harmonize the collection of data

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Strategic Programs

• 7.Tourism-related Infrastructure
• Focus on 13 priority zones
• Access infrastructure (roads, airports, piers)
• Environmental infrastructure in urban areas
  (wastewater, solid waste)
• Protection and interpretation of cultural and
  natural heritage sites
• Facilities in borders and along economic
  corridors

• Coordinating Mechanisms
• GMS tourism ministers meeting (Jan 2008)
• Tourism working group
• Mekong Tourism Office
• Development partners forum (PATA, UNESCO, WTO,
  UNESCAP, SNV, ADB French Government)
• Private sector supporters committee
• National GMS tourism committees

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29 Priority Projects

• 13 priority tourism zone projects
• 16 thematic projects

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Priority GMS Tourism Zones

• 1. Mekong River Tourism Corridor
• 2. Golden Quadrangle
• 3. East West Tourism Corridor Zone
• 4. Emerald Triangle
• 5. Southern Tourism Coastal Corridor
• 6. Green Development Triangle
• 7. Lao PDR Viet Nam Cross-border
• Community-based Tourism Zone
• 8. Andaman Coast Tourism Zone
• 9. Shangri-laTengchongMyitkyina

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Target Growth in International Tourism to GMS
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Expected Outcome Estimated Value of Tourism
Expenditure ( Billion)
Sub Sectors 2004 2010 2015
Hotel and Food 5.27 10.51 18.67
Transportation 1.94 3.87 6.87
Shopping 4.07 8.11 14.40
Tours 1.19 2.37 4.21
Other Services 2.33 4.64 8.25
TOTAL 14.80 29.50 52.40
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Tourism income and poverty reduction How are
they connected?

• Direct Benefits
• - labor income (unskilled labor, women) in
  tourism sector (hotels, tour operators,
  restaurants, transportation, handicrafts)
• - SMEs and informal micro-enterprises
• - Non-labor income to the community
  (private-public partnerships, revenue share
  schemes, infrastructure)
• Secondary Benefits
• - earnings in non-tourism sectors out of tourism
  expenditures (farm sales to hotels, construction)
• - reduce leakages and increase linkages
• - multiplier effects of consumption by tourism
  workers
• Dynamic (macro) Benefits
• - spill-over effects of skills, technical
  change, infrastructure,
• - government revenues for poor in other sectors
  (roads, education, health)
• - changes in prices

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Could tourism increase poverty?

• Destruction of the environment
• Social conflicts in the community
• Loss of cultural heritage
• Loss of land and properties
• Price increases (food, transportation)
• Diseases (HIV/AIDS, drug abuse)
• Trafficking of people
• Child prostitution
• Dependency on a single sector

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ADB and GMS Tourism

• Supporting GMS tourism since 1993
• Mekong River Tourism Development Plan (1998)
• Mekong Tourism Development Project (MTDP)
  (2003-2007) in Cambodia, Lao PDR and Vietnam
  (35-40 million)
• Support to TWG for the preparation of the GMS
  Tourism Sector Strategy (October 2005)
• Support to MTO (Tourism Coordinator from August
  2007 2 years)
• Sustainable Tourism Development Project (2008) in
  Lao PDR and Vietnam (20 million)

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ADB and CBT in the GMS

• Under MTDP- 22 small CBT projects
• 5 in Cambodia (Stung Treng and Rattanakiri)
  (600,000)
• 12 in Lao PDR (Luang Namtha, Luang Prabang,
  Khammouane and Champassak) (1.6 million)
• 5 in Vietnam (An Giang and Tien Giang) (800,000)
• Subregional Networking Meetings on Pro-poor
  Tourism (6 meetings, twice a year)
• - marketing and promotion of CBT products
• - monitoring the impacts of pro-poor tourism
• - community-private sector partnerships
• - gender and tourism

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Lessons learned from CBT

• Comprehensive evaluation not yet done need to
  measure results at the output, outcome and impact
  levels
• Preliminary lessons
• Develop capacities at the provincial level,
  provide incentives and partner with NGOs
• Coordinate with other sectors at national and
  local levels (culture, environment, transport)
• Involve the private sector
• Secure community land ownership
• Consider investing in value-chains
• Monitoring and evaluate constantly
• Develop leadership at national/provincial/communi
  ty levels

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Potential future support from ADB

• Support new CBT projects in Lao PDR and Vietnam
  (maybe also Cambodia)
• New focus on tourism value chains
• Pro-poor tourism along the economic corridors
• CBT and GMS biodiversity corridors
• Mitigating negative impacts of tourism (HIV/AIDS,
  trafficking of people)
• Gender and tourism

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Final Messages

• GMS tourism cooperation makes sense
• Tourism could reduce poverty (or not)
• There are many risks in the current development
  pattern of GMS tourism that need to be carefully
  managed
• Governments, private sector, development
  partners, universities and communities have a
  role to play at subregional, national and local
  levels
• ADB will continue supporting GMS tourism
• Lao PDR could become a model for the GMS and the
  world on how to develop sustainable tourism that
  have positive impacts on the poor

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Contact

• Alfredo Perdiguero
• Asian Development Bank (ADB)
• www.adb.org
• aperdiguero_at_adb.org

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Thank you!