Tourism 101

Patrick Moran is a friend who resides in Ho Chi Minh City.  He is a fascinating gentleman: a well travelled successful entrepreneur who has chosen Vietnam as his place of retirement.  During my tenure as Team Leader of the ADB funded Mekong Tourism Development Project (MTDP) I often asked for his input on our projects in Tien Giang and An [...]

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Mekong Tourism Marketing Plan
By Peter Semone
In late January the Tourism Ministers of the MEKONG countries met on the sidelines of the ASEAN Tourism Fair (ATF) which was held in Bangkok, Thailand.  At this meeting, the Ministers approved a three year subregional marketing plan which I was asked to prepare during the last quarter of 2007.  

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By Peter Semone
Last week the World Economic Forum released its Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report (TTCR) entitled Balancing Economic Development and Environmental Sustainability.  This is the second year running that this study has been conducted with the intent of exploring the factors driving travel and tourism industry competitiveness in 130 economies. The full report can be downloaded here.

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By Peter Semone 
Vietnam’s tourism promotion slogan is Hidden Charm.  Most Vietnamese tourism practitioners (both public and private sector) don’t really know what VNAT’s Hidden Charm campaign is all about.  Someone in Vietnam tourism needs to pick up a text on tourism marketing and flip to the chapter on branding.  Surely the text will explain the importance of a branding campaign transcending the entire tourism experience – literally [...]

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