Mekong Institute (MI) equipped 25 entrepreneurs, recent university graduates, and students from Cambodia, Myanmar, and Vietnam in applying innovative approaches to help boost tourism recovery in the Mekong region from November 30 to December 4, 2020.

“This is an opportunity for us to integrate COVID-19 recovery plans and business opportunities, so we can together build back better our region’s tourism industry,” Mr. Madhurjya Kumar Dutta, MI Director of Trade and Investment Facilitation, said.

Supported by the Mekong-Republic of Korea Cooperation Fund, the “Designing and Building Digital Interactive Infrastructure to Seize Opportunities in the Post-Pandemic World” online course introduced digital marketing concepts and strategies, including social media advertising trends to help participants induce inbound tourism in their respective countries.

International tourism experts from the Republic of Korea also presented the merits of technologies and digital infrastructure such as QR codes, real-time and big data, card news, and videos in safely revitalizing the competitive tourism market.

The online training activities were designed to further promote the use of smart technologies, open business opportunities, and foster deeper linkages among Mekong countries and the Republic of Korea, as part of the objectives under MI’s “Sustainable and Smart Tourism Development in the Mekong Region” project.

The three-year project aims to create tourism “smart cities” in Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Vietnam, and Thailand through the introduction of smart tourism tools, techniques, and technologies, learning exchanges, structured learning visits, information-sharing, and adaption of best practices.

Such investments are geared to expand small entrepreneurial businesses and deepen cultural interconnectedness and appreciation among and between cities in the Republic of Korea and the Mekong region countries.