It is vital private sector players step up their game to coordinate unified tourism recovery across the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) countries in the wake of change at Mekong Tourism Coordinating Office (MTCO), say regional stakeholders.
Earlier this month, Jens Thraenhart, MTCO’s longest serving executive director, handed in his resignation, citing “personal values” as the reason for leaving his seven-year tenure.
He said: “It’s about standing up for my values and doing what I believe in. This office was formed to develop collaborative sustainable tourism across the Mekong region and we have created a very unique and powerful private-public partnership that does that. But in the current situation, it’s difficult.”
Thraenhart will continue his service during his 90-day notice period.
A special MTCO board meeting of GMS member governments will be held in April, where the six tourism ministries will decide how to move forward.
In the interim, regional tourism stakeholders say now is the time for the industry to unite and strengthen the innovative framework Thraenhart has created through MTCO; the secretariat of GMS Tourism Working Group of the six governments; and Destination Mekong, a DMO driven by the private sector; to move forward.
Willem Niemeijer, CEO of YAANA Ventures, noted: “MTCO is a powerful regional lobby and countries need to all come together as one. Stakeholders now have the chance to be part of the building back in tourism recovery. Post-Covid, regional tourism is going to be very important and discussions need to be had.”
Nick Ray, product director at Hanuman Travel, agreed, adding: “The challenge is that each country is working unilaterally. As we begin to reopen, there needs to be coordination and forward-looking countries really need to work together to promote the region.”
He added that while MTCO is driven by GMS governments, it is vital the private sector remains involved in decision-making. “It’s important that Destination Mekong carries on in tandem with MTCO – and the private sector needs to make that happen.”
Geoffrey Lipman, former WTTC president and president of International Coalition of Tourism Partners, said the region’s industry needs to seize this opportunity to strengthen.
“There is now the chance for the organisation to evolve and become much more of a public-private economy. The right components have been put in place by MTCO over the past few years, now, the private sector needs to get engaged to make Destination Mekong a sustainable regional DMO. Often, the private sector better understands the digital and travel world than governments, and they need to work together.”
Destination Mekong is also the driving force behind a series of initiatives, including award-winning Mekong Moments and Mekong Mini Movie Festival, Mekong Innovations in Sustainable Tourism (MIST), and Experience Mekong Collection and Showcases.
Thraenhart expects the majority to continue, with a tourism recovery campaign in development and a virtual internship platform slated to launch in the next few months.
With the military coup currently taking place in Myanmar, this has raised questions over how this will impact MTCO’s work promoting the region. Niemeijer said that while political distractions create a “challenge”, it is important to keep conversations flowing.
He added: “Tourism needs to remain on the table as a way to keep the international and regional community involved in Myanmar as a destination and not put it in isolation. I see this as difficult, but an opportunity for MTCO to keep Myanmar engaged.”
Philippine Airlines (PAL) has found a different way to consumers’ heart – and it is through a piping hot bowl of comforting rice porridge delivered from its new online food shop, Fly PAL Cafe.
Travelport has started the roll out of bookings on Qantas using IATA’s New Distribution Capability (NDC), ahead of NDC booking capabilities being extended gradually to agencies across Australia and New Zealand from April.
Early adopters ATPI and Maxim’s Travel issued the first Qantas NDC tickets via Smartpoint, Travelport’s agency desktop solution. The first passenger to fly via an NDC booking travelled from Sydney to Melbourne on March 18.
With both Smartpoint and Travelport’s API connection now capable of booking Qantas’ NDC content, this successful step marks one of the final milestones in Travelport’s partnership with Qantas to launch its NDC-enabled Qantas Distribution Platform for agents.
From April, Travelport-connected agents in Australia and New Zealand who have signed up to the Qantas channel will be able to make NDC bookings using Smartpoint or Travelport’s API.
Kyle Moore, head of customer strategy at Travelport, said: “Passengers actually travelling on journeys created via NDC are the best testament to the rigorous efforts that Qantas, Travelport, ATPI, Maxim’s Travel and all our test agencies have invested in successfully enabling modern travel retailing.
“Sharpening our customers’ competitive edge by giving them access to unique and personalised content… is a key part of Travelport’s next generation platform being the best travel retailing platform available in the marketplace.”
Igor Kwiatkowski, Qantas executive manager, global sales & distribution, said: “Despite the significant impact of Covid on airlines globally, Qantas remains committed to progressing our NDC programme with our key partners like Travelport.
“We’ve launched a number of new features in recent months, including special price offers for our Frequent Flyers and the ability for agents to help their customers purchase carbon offsets. These benefits are all designed to deliver richer content and a better experience for our customers and agency partners.”
NDC bookings made through the Qantas Distribution Platform will empower agencies to deliver more enriched and personalised experiences for travellers.