The UNWTO/Chimelong Sub-regional Capacity Building Workshop on Sustainable Tourism and Biodiversity Conservation for the Mekong Subregion Member States was held on 19-21 February 2019 in Pakse, Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao DPR).

Organized under the framework of the UNWTO/Chimelong Initiative and in line with UNWTO’s priority on fostering knowledge, education and capacity building, this sub-regional workshop focused on enhancing the quality of human capital in the field of sustainable tourism and wildlife conservation within the Mekong river area.  

The event aimed to motivate local tourism employees and communities to act as champions of biodiversity conservation and environmental protection along the Mekong, which will help ensure sustained income generation for the local people as a result of tourism activities. Also it aimed to raise awareness among local tourism stakeholders and the communities of the importance of biodiversity conservation along the Mekong and how to address environmental issues while undertaking tourism activities.

The workshop was attended by tourism officials from Lao PDR at the local and provincial level, and selected local people who are self-employed in the tourism sector. Representatives from the national tourism administrations of the Great Mekong Subregion Countries (Cambodia, People’s Republic of China, Myanmar, Thailand and Viet Nam) also attended the workshop, shared their experiences and explored opportunities to replicate the workshop in their countries.

For further information, please contact Ms. Hyeon-Jin Lee: hjlee@unwto.org