Bangkok, Thailand, July 7, 2020 / TRAVELINDEX / The Mekong Tourism Coordinating Office is announcing the 18 Finalists of the Experience Mekong Showcases 2020. 4,200 eligible votes determined three Experience Mekong Collection members from each of the six member countries of the Greater Mekong Subregion for the next round of voting for this prestigious recognition. Now open for public vote until August 15th, the six Experience Mekong Showcases will be announced on August 25th, at the 2020 Destination Mekong Summit.
The 18 finalists – 3 from each of the 6 member countries of the Mekong Region are:
The Experience Mekong Collection was created three years ago to both recognize and encourage sustainable and responsible tourism development in the Greater Mekong Subregion.
In order to be appointed as member of the Experience Mekong Collection, all small travel businesses in the Mekong Region need to fulfill the following requirements:
1. Make a significant social impact to its community
2. Provide an authentically local experience positioning the GMS as a
responsible, inclusive, and experiential tourism destination.
3. Have an innovative concept and sustainable business model.
Members of the Mekong Tourism Advisory Group (MeTAG) selected the 60 shortlisted Experience Mekong Collection (EMC) member businesses – ten from each of the six GMS member countries from the 350+ members of the Experience Mekong Collection.
“In recognizing the most innovative best practice businesses as the Experience Mekong Showcases, this sets several benchmarks to further improve travel experiences in the Greater Mekong Subregion. We hope this motivates other operators to become more involved and do their part for responsible tourism,” said HE Mr. Htay Aung, former Minister of Hotels and Tourism of Myanmar, and a member of the Mekong Tourism Advisory Group (MeTAG).
The 2018 Experience Mekong Collection Showcases included Phare Cambodian Circus (Cambodia), Longji Rice Terraces Guangxi (PR China), Ock Pop Tok (Lao PDR), Inle Heritage Place (Myanmar), Local Alike (Thailand), and Koto (Viet Nam). The 2019 Experience Mekong Collection included Soksabike (Cambodia), Linden Centre (PR China), Elephant Conservation Centre (Lao PDR), Hla Day (Myanmar), Sampran Riverside (Thailand), and Streets International (Viet Nam). Please see:
All members of the Experience Mekong Collection get exposure via channels of Mekong Tourism and Destination Mekong as well as the dedicated Experience Mekong Collection Facebook and Instagram accounts. Experience Mekong Collection members also have priority access to marketing campaigns and have their own dedicated online member-only community to connect with each other.
In order to help struggling members of the Experience Mekong Collection to survive these challenging times of the COVID-19 pandemic, a support page has been created at to list businesses asking for donations or selling gift certificates.
About the Mekong Tourism Coordinating Office
The Mekong Tourism Coordinating Office (MTCO), located in Bangkok, was set up with funding from the governments of the six Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) countries – Cambodia, the People’s Republic of China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Viet Nam. The MTCO, which operates on annual financial contributions from each GMS country, acts as the secretariat for the GMS Tourism Working Group, comprising of senior officials of the six GMS countries’ National Tourism Organizations, to coordinate and facilitate sustainable tourism development of the GMS, and promotion of the Mekong region as a single travel and tourism destination, in collaboration with the public and private sectors. The MTCO manages its award-winning MekongTourism digital platform as a one-stop platform to promote responsible and sustainable tourism in the region, as well as the annual Mekong Tourism Forum, whose hosting is rotated among GMS countries.
