BANGKOK, 14 May 2026: The Mekong Tourism Forum 2026, organised by the Mekong Tourism Coordinating Office, will return to Yangon, Myanmar, from 16 to 18 June, bringing together public and private stakeholders to explore how tourism can deliver real value for people and places.
MTF last convened in Myanmar in 2002, more than two decades ago. Sedona Hotel in Yangon hosted the 7th edition of the regional event that represents six country members (Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam).
Myanmar was scheduled to host the forum in Bagan in 2020 and 2021. Those plans repeatedly failed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and regional travel restrictions following the military coup in February 2021.
This time round, MTF 2026 will be hosted at the Pan Pacific Yangon, adopting the theme ‘Tourism for People, Travel with Purpose’.
Whatever happened to?
As they plan their trip to Yangon to attend MTF’s 28th edition, faithful followers might raise the question: Whatever happened to the Mekong Minis and Moments or Mekong Heroes and Experience Mekong Showcases?
Between 2017 and 2021, MTFs earned a reputation for introducing innovative marketing campaigns. The nine initiatives recognised Mekong tourism companies, individuals residing in the six-country region and startup tourism and hospitality ventures.
The Mekong-themed awards and campaigns had an appealing ring to them that resonated with delegates. MTF delegates welcomed Mekong Heroes, voted on the best 60-second Mekong Mini videos and encouraged startup travel enterprises to gain priceless assistance from technology experts on how to make a breakthrough and succeed. Annually, MTF earned a reputation for being a busy platform spotlighting SMEs in the Mekong region and honouring them with awards.
For several years, before the forum’s two-year pause (2020 and 2021) due to the COVID-19 crisis, the MTCO office rolled out nine “Mekong”-branded campaigns or awards. They caught our attention, earning prime-time slots on the MTF programme. They revitalised the forum’s content and recognised people who make Mekong Region travel succeed.
Since 2021, asking the question “Whatever happened to the nine Mekong campaigns and award schemes?” prompted a bland, almost disinterested response from both the Mekong Tourism Coordinating Office and the founders of Destination Mekong.
What we do know confirms that the nine Mekong campaigns were successfully established by the MTCO from 2017 to 2021 and premiered at various MTFs with stage presentations curated by the marketing agency Destination Mekong.
But in 2021, they were unceremoniously parked on the Destination Mekong website and, from that point on, ceased to exist as MTCO activities. All nine popular projects failed to resurface at MTFs since 2019.
The only references to the nine campaigns are on the inactive Destination Mekong homepage, headlined “Projects”. That brings us back to the first question: Whatever happened?
Question time
TTRW filed questions with Jens Thraenhart, the former MTCO executive director and founder of Destination Mekong, regarding the future of Destination Mekong.
His response: To clarify, Destination Mekong (DM) is currently dormant with no ongoing activities or financial transactions. Regarding the “nine projects”, we are evaluating whether relocating them to MTCO would be the best way to preserve and activate them to guarantee stakeholder and shareholder value.
“At this stage, we have not been approached by MTCO with either an intention to start discussions or a plan to successfully operate some or all of the projects.
“MTCO has not signalled any interest in operating or cooperating on any of these or other projects. Our focus remains on assessing how best to proceed with these initiatives once the GMTO is formally established to ensure the most value for the tourism industry in the GMS, and we remain open to any suggestions either from the public or private sectors”.
A word from MTCO
In response to TTRW questions, the MTCO Executive Director, Dee Suvimol Thanasarakij said: “From MTCO’s perspective, tourism marketing initiatives and campaigns naturally evolve over time depending on organisational priorities, available resources, partnerships, and broader regional directions, including the priorities agreed by the six GMS member countries under the recently adopted GMS Tourism Strategy 2030, which now serves as the key roadmap for regional tourism cooperation. While some earlier initiatives are no longer active, MTCO continues to support and develop new programmes aligned with the strategy and the evolving needs of the region.”
She added: “In particular, we continue to place strong emphasis on storytelling, local voices, and people-centred tourism development. One example is our ‘Mekong Voices. interview series, which has featured nearly 100 stories highlighting tourism champions, local innovators, and community leaders across the Greater Mekong Subregion.”
Meanwhile, a check of Destination Mekong’s registration status in Singapore shows the company registered on 22 January 2022 and, as of 25 April 2026, is “gazetted to be struck off.” (Source: ACRA — Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority).
Nine forgotten campaigns
Experience Mekong Collection
The “Experience Mekong Collection” presented small, responsible, and sustainable travel businesses in the Mekong Region.
Experience Mekong Showcase
Every year, six members of the Experience Mekong Collection are awarded the Experience Mekong Showcase recognition.
Mekong Deals
Mekong Deals was a collaborative campaign to support business recovery in the Mekong Region, with the portal providing SME’s with a channel to offer non-refundable travel and stay vouchers.
Mekong Heroes
Annually, the campaign selects a tourism leader who has made a significant contribution to developing tourism sustainability in the Mekong Region. It honours them as a Mekong Hero. Three tourism entrepreneurs have won the award.
MIST
The Mekong Innovations in Sustainable Tourism (MIST) programme seeks innovative initiatives and projects from anyone, including students, startups, social enterprises, SMEs, corporates, and governments, to strengthen sustainability and resilience in travel. Four annual editions from 2017 to 2020, with winners declared at MTF
Mekong Memories
Mekong Memories is a collaborative social media tourism recovery campaign. It addresses past guests and visitors and asks them to share their memorable experiences in video and photo formats, tagging #MekongMemories.
Mekong Minis
The Mekong Minis is a social media campaign that celebrates the many faces and experiences of the Mekong Region and promotes the region as a single tourism destination through 60-second videos, with the best effort winning an award presented at the MTF.
Mekong Moments
Mekong Moments is a visual consumer marketing campaign and travel inspirational platform that collaboratively promotes the Mekong Region as a single tourism destination and drives direct business to individual businesses through social commerce.
Mekong Stories
The initial edition of Mekong Stories, released in 2021, reflects four years’ work telling the stories of many individuals and organisations working in the GMS’s tourism industry.
MTCO to legalise structure
Meanwhile, the Mekong Tourism Coordinating Office faces challenging times as it grapples with the need to legalise its structure. This process failed under the tenure of various executive directors and members of the Greater Mekong Subregion Tourism Working Group over the last decade. It is now on the cusp of rebranding the MTCO as the Greater Mekong Tourism Office (GMTO) as it embarks once more on the complicated path to legalise its structure.
Oversight of MTCO’s operations and budgets is with the governments of the six Mekong countries — Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, and China (Yunnan and Guangxi) — through the GMS Tourism Working Group. However, since the MTCO was formed in 1997, the fundamental challenge has always been how to recruit financial support from the tourism and hospitality sectors in the six-country region, specifically to launch marketing campaigns.
