In the first-ever Mekong Sub-region Tourism Cities Mayors Summit held in Ho Chi Minh City, the mayors of ${bigcity_Ho_Chi_Minh_City:"Ho Chi Minh City"}, Phnom Penh and Vientiane have all reached an agreement to work together to make the Mekong Sub-region a “single attractive tourist destination.” Included in the agreement is to strengthen the relationship between the ${attraction_Mekong_Delta:"Mekong"} region countries and increase exchanges with cities outside the region.

In a formal, written statement, the aim of the summit is  “to implement the strategy of sustainable tourism development and to enhance tourism and culture cooperation and development among the cities in the Mekong sub-region.” The mission of a “one tourism destination” is expected to “strengthen the spirit of friendship, cooperation and community development for ASEAN solidarity, peace, dynamism, innovation and sustainability.”

If the one-tourism destination plan is achieved, citizens between the three cities would be more interested and motivated to travel and discover each other’s areas, while the government would cooperate in developing and promoting tourism products in order to further advertise their places. This commitment is evident in choosing the International Travel Expo-HCM City as a basis to promote “common tourism strengths” of the Mekong sub-region cities. International tourism will now be a joint effort and cooperation among the three areas. Furthermore, hospitality student exchange programmes will become a regular part of the cities’ activities and duties in order to train and develop human resources. Moreover, tourism products between the sub-region cities will have the possibility of merging to promote tourism and cultural exchanges in the Mekong River.

The opening ceremony of the eighth edition of the International Expo-HCM City – ITE HCMC 2012 was held at the White Palace in Ho Chi Minh City. Leaders of the HCM City People’s Committee and the tourism sectors of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Viet Nam (CLMV) participated in the prestigious event.

Hoang Tuan Anh, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, avowed that tourism development has become one of Vietnam’s priority economic activities. According to him, the Vietnamese Government has “always worked to create favourable conditions for both domestic and international travel companies to invest in tourism.” HCM City Deputy Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Hong echoed this sentiment by stating that the city has exhausted all efforts to make ITE HCMC 2012 a large-scale and professional international event. This year’s ITE HCMC theme of  “Four Countries, One Destination” aims to be a venue for all companies all over the world to create long-term cooperation relationships.

If all of these goals will be achieved, these would set the platform and fuel for sustainable tourism development in the region.