MTCO Calls for Applications for the GMS Guide to Responsible Tourism

BANGKOK – The Mekong Tourism Coordinating Office (MTCO) is calling for applications for entry into the online GMS Guide to Responsible Tourism, an updated edition of the original award-winning online Guide to Responsible Tourism for Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam that will include all Greater Mekong Sub-region destinations. Applications must be submitted by 15 April 2011.

The MTCO placed the original guide, published with the support of the Asian Development Bank’s Mekong Tourism Development Project, online at www.mekongtourism.org/responsible thanks to support from the USAID ACE project. The first edition of the highly successful guidebook distributed 5,000 copies, before the online edition won the PATA Gold Award for Best Website in 2009.

The MTCO is currently improving and expanding the website by updating existing entries and screening their relevance, while extending the coverage to include Yunnan and Guangxi Provinces in China, Myanmar, and Thailand. The updated version of the guide is being funded by the French Government.

MTCO Project Coordinator Christine Jacquemin said, “We plan to upgrade and complement the existing website, which will have its own domain name for better referencing by search engines. We also intend to have an online PDF downloadable version that will be compatible with mobile devices, and if our budget allows, a printed version that will be distributed at all major trade fairs and tourism events in Asia.” A French version of the website is also being considered.

Apart from the private sector and community operators, development partners supporting projects in these destinations may submit entries on behalf of local tour operators, CBT projects, home stays, handicraft producers, eco-accommodation, and other responsible tourism enterprises and NGOs.

To apply for inclusion in the 2011 updated edition of the GMS Guide to Responsible Tourism, applicants must fill out a downloadable questionnaire that demonstrates they meet the benchmarks for responsible tourism as set out by the Cape Town Declaration (2002), and consistently follow sustainable tourism’s triple bottom line (environmental, social and economic), while showing how it helps the destination and its hosts.

Completed questionnaires and supporting documents must be sent to cjacquemin@adb.org by April 15, 2011, together with a few pictures and logo.

For more info contact:
Christine Jacquemin
GMS Sustainable Tourism Development Project Coordinator
Mekong Tourism Coordinating Office (MTCO)
Email: cjaquemin@adb.org, Christine@mekongtourism.org
www.mekongtourism.org

Download Call for Applications
Download Application Form