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Preparations for Lao Ecotourism Forum at full steam |
In the context of the high-powered Lao Ecotourism Forum on July
26-29, 2007, the offices of the Lao National Tourism Administration
(LNTA) in Vientiane are even occupied on a Sunday. Mr. Steven
Schipani, Team Leader of the Community-Based Tourism Component of
the Mekong Tourism Development Project, Vientiane, is organising
the last program details for the up-coming event, which will
highlight the tourism potential of the Lao PDR.
To be held at the prestigious Don Chan Palace Hotel in Vientiane,
rightly situated on an island in the mighty Mekong River, the
eagerly-awaited Lao Ecotourism Forum will be ceremoniously opened
by H.E. Somphong Mongkonvilay, Minister to the Prime Minister's
Office, on Thursday, July 26 at 8.30 in the morning.
Mr. Schipani confirmed that there will be some 80 sellers attending
the Mekong Ecotourism Mart next to 50 international and local
buyers. Also, there will be some 20 representatives of the
international and local media, spearheaded by a team of TTR from
Bangkok. Furthermore, observing the event will be Lonely Planet
writer Joe Cummings, who is based in Chiang Mai, Thailand, and a TV
team from UBC in Bangkok. Delegates from Malaysia and Sri Lanka
will add to the list of participants.
Among the list of speakers of the forum on Day 1, Dr. Sasithara
Pichaichannarong, Deputy Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Tourism
and Sports, Thailand, will give a talk on Mekong Tourism and the UN
Millennium Goal of Sustainable Tourism Development, while Mr. Peter
Semone, former PATA Executive, Bangkok, will present his vision of
Marketing Mekong Ecotourism to the World.
Day 2 of the forum will be occupied with the Annual Meeting of LNTA
officials, who see Laos as the Jewel of the Mekong River and push
Lao Airlines to be the main carrier in the Greater Mekong
Sub-region (GMS).
Some of the new tourism development projects in Laos are the
modernisation of the airport in Luang Nam Tha, the opening of the
“Hidden City" of Vieng Xay near the Vietnamese border and the
improving of the “Emerald Triangle" in the southern part of
the country, where the borders of Laos, Thailand and Cambodia meet.
Last not least, some of the delegates can eventually join a
post-forum tour to the Konglor Caves in Khammuan Province, visit a
nearby national park or book an excursion into the hinterland of
Luang Prabang in the northern part of the country.
Other exciting events will entertain the public.
For further information, please go to www.ecotourismlaos.com
Reinhard Hohler TTR North Thailand News Bureau Chiang Mai, Thailand
(Local mobile: +66-6795223)
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