Phnom Penh, Cambodia, November 17, 2021 / TRAVELINDEX / Destination Mekong is strengthening its management capabilities to play a leading role in the recovery of tourism in the Greater Mekong (GMS) region following the COVID-19 pandemic. As the global tourism industry slowly recovers, Destination Mekong (DM), as a regional tourism organization, is taking a new step and committing to developing the Lancang-Mekong region – comprising Cambodia, the People's Republic of China (Guangxi and Yunnan provinces), Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam – into a sustainable and inclusive destination.

• The tourism portal for the Mekong region can be found at TourismMekong.com.

Destination Mekong officially introduced its new leadership team at the start of the Destination Mekong Summit 2021, which took place online on October 21 and 22, 2021 under the motto "Restart > Reshape > Reorientation".

On this occasion, Jens Thraenhart, founder of Destination Mekong and former managing director of the Mekong Tourism Coordinating Office (MTCO), introduced the four members of the DM “Dream Team”:

Catherine Germier-Hamel, Gerrit Kruger, Gavin Bell and Jens Uwe Parkitny all had the opportunity to contribute their visions and passions when taking on their new roles.

Thraenhart emphasized that the new leadership team is “truly world-class and made up of experts in their fields to ensure that Destination Mekong can grow and contribute to accelerating the recovery in the Mekong region.”

He stated that his “greatest achievement was the establishment of a privately run regional tourism association with innovative and award-winning programs and initiatives to implement the mandate of the Mekong Tourism Coordinating Office (MTCO) to promote cooperation between the public and private sectors.” On November 1, Jens Thraenhart began a new career as CEO of Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc.

Meet the new leadership team of Destination Mekong

The appointments of Catherine Germier-Hamel as Managing Director, Gerrit Kruger as Head of Marketing, and Gavin Bell as Head of Development took effect on November 1st. Jens Uwe Parkitny serves as a voluntary strategic advisor.

Germier-Hamel, a French-born Eurasian with family roots in the Mekong region, has lived in Seoul, South Korea, since 2005. Over the past 15 years, she has built an international career as a consultant for sustainable tourism development and marketing, as well as an impact entrepreneur.

Gerrit Kruger, a German citizen, has been involved in the management of Destination Mekong since its founding in 2017 and also serves as Managing Director of Chameleon Strategies, an innovative strategy think tank and associate member of the United Nations World Tourism Organization.

Since 2018, Gavin Bell, a British citizen, has accumulated almost 30 years of experience working with governments, international organizations and the private sector on sustainable tourism initiatives in Phnom Penh and collaborates with the Ministry of Tourism.

Jens Uwe Parkitny, a German national, is a well-known tourism manager who has worked for renowned travel and hotel brands in the Asia-Pacific region. He is a co-owner of the Loikaw Lodge by the Lake in Myanmar.

Destinations Mekong is preparing the next steps to fulfill its mission.

Destination Mekong is currently in the process of being established as a legal entity in Singapore. Its management will be based in Phnom Penh on behalf of the Cambodian Ministry of Tourism. This is based on a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Destination Mekong and the Ministry of Tourism, which will also second local staff.

In the coming months, the leadership team will focus on building a strong community of individual, corporate, and institutional members and raising funds to support its activities. The short-term action plan also includes the launch of the "Experience Mekong Collection," showcasing responsible and sustainable travel experiences in the Greater Mekong Region, and the implementation of value-added services and solutions to increase the visibility of its members.

Destination Mekong will also enter into strategic partnerships with organizations that share the same values ​​and interests. As a first step, Destination Mekong has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Pacific Tourism Organization (SPTO) to promote reciprocal tourism cooperation between the six countries of the Greater Mekong region and the 20 Pacific Island States (PICs). This cooperation will be based on the exchange of information, knowledge, and best practices to promote sustainable and inclusive tourism.

The Tourism Recovery Plan for the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) “Unlimited Experiences, Unlimited Stories” was also presented at the DM Summit 2021, providing a framework for Destination Mekong’s activities.

Destination Mekong is committed to taking a leading role in the global tourism industry and is a proud signatory to the Glasgow Declaration on Climate Action in Tourism, adopted on November 4, 2021, at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26). The Glasgow Declaration promotes accelerated climate action in tourism by securing commitments to reduce emissions from tourism by at least 50% over the next decade and to achieve net-zero emissions, where possible, before 2050.

Destination Mekong's new CEO, Catherine Germier-Hamel, explains: "Now more than ever, the global tourism industry has a unique opportunity to demonstrate its transformative power by encouraging and driving climate action. This is not just an emergency, but also a matter of human dignity."

About Destination Mekong: Destination Mekong (DM) was founded in 2017 by private stakeholders in the travel and tourism industry of the Mekong Region (GMS) to promote the Greater Mekong Region, comprising Cambodia, the People's Republic of China (Provinces of Guangxi and Yunnan), Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam, as a single travel destination.

Destination Mekong's overarching goal is to establish the Mekong region as a sustainable and inclusive travel destination. In recent years, the organization has fostered innovative and inclusive collaborations between the public and private sectors in the six Mekong riparian states to inspire and engage travelers and stakeholders through authentic experiences and stories.

Destination Mekong's core mission is to develop appealing programs and solutions that build capacity, are inclusive, and promote sustainable economic development as well as an understanding of the region's diversity and uniqueness, thereby contributing to social equality and poverty reduction.

Supported by the Mekong Tourism Coordinating Office in Thailand and in accordance with the mandate of the regional cooperation framework for tourism of the six member governments of the Greater Mekong region, Destination Mekong has implemented targeted projects and initiatives, including Mekong Moments, Mekong Memories, Mekong Deals, Mekong Mini Movie Festival, Mekong Innovative Start-ups in Tourism (MIST), Experience Mekong Collection, Mekong Heroes, and Mekong Trends. These projects incorporated feedback from the Mekong Tourism Advisory Group (MeTAG) and realized investments through a public-private partnership led by UNWTO member Chameleon Strategies.