KUALA LUMPUR – The Lao National Tourism Administration (LNTA) has signed an MOU with Malaysia’s event organiser, DiscoveryMice, to host the World Ecotourism and Adventure Conference in Vientiane from July 15-16, 2009.
The conference will look at modern approaches to sustainable tourism development and management at World Heritage sites.
It will also highlight global best practice in the ecotourism and community-based tourism sectors and seek solutions to mitigate and reverse negative impacts of tourism, such as climate change and environmental degradation.
The LNTA has planned a series of events around the conference, including the Lao International Tourism Exhibition and Food Festival.
Somphong Mongkhonvilay, chairman of the Lao National Tourism Administration, said Lao PDR was well suited to host this event based on its wealth of cultural, natural and historic tourism assets including two UNESCO Cultural World Heritage sites and a network of 20 National Protected Areas covering more than 13 percent of the country.
Dr Victor Wee, chairman of UNWTO programme committee, said the MOU signing reflects Lao PDR’s “continuing open door policies to embrace regional and global opportunities to deepen external social-economic engagements, strengthen international ties and partnerships and develop international tourism networks and linksâ€.
