Marketing Mongolia for Tourism: UNWTO Workshop Gives Advice
UNWTO and Mongolia have planned closer collaboration in the future following the Secretary-General´s visit to the country and the holding of a workshop on tourism marketing in the capital, Ulaanbaatar in July.
The July visit was the first trip to Mongolia by UNWTO Secretary-General Taleb Rifai, who during his stay presented the UNWTO/WTTC Open Letter to Mongolia´s President, Mr. Elbegdorj Tsahia. This letter forms part of the UNWTO/WTTC Global Leaders for Tourism Campaign, and makes President Tsahia the 35th Head of State (and the 10th in the Asia Pacific Region) to receive the letter, which highlights the importance and potential of tourism as a strong contributor to national economies.
Mongolia, strongly reliant on its mining sector thanks to the country´s extensive deposits of gold, oil, copper and coal, is looking to diversify its economy through the development of its tourism industry.
The UNWTO workshop, run by UNWTO consultant and Chairman of Tourism Malaysia Dr. Victor Wee, analyzed the tourism potential of Mongolia and presented global market trends and successful case studies of tourism policies and strategies to aid Mongolian tourism marketing professionals to formulate further marketing policies. The workshop also outlined global tourism trends more broadly, including statistics, evaluation, main factors for tourism growth, consumer behavior and effective tourism policies and strategies.
¨Tourism in Mongolia has tremendous potential for development, particularly in view of the increasing trend among well-travelled tourists to visit exotic destinations that few people have gone to, ¨ said Dr. Wee. However, he noted, while Mongolia´s targets of doubling visitor arrivals to the country to 1 million by 2015 or achieving a growth rate of over 20% per annum for the next three to four years may be within reach, a key challenge remains ensuring that tourism continues to thrive and above all, develop sustainably.
Interesting Links:
- UNWTO Press Release: Mongolia Looks to Tourism to Diversify its Economy (Read article)
