Pro-Poor & Gender Responsive Tourism in the

Greater Mekong Subregion

Gender Equity CoP Seminar

10 February 2011
Steven Schipani
Southeast Asia Regional Department

The views expressed in this paper are the views of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Asian
Development Bank (ADB), or its Board of Governors, or the governments they represent. ADB does not guarantee the accuracy of
the data included in this paper and accepts no responsibility for any consequence of their use. The countries listed in this paper do
not imply any view on ADB's part as to sovereignty or independent status or necessarily conform to ADB's terminology.
Introduction
 GMS Tourism Trends

60
$52b
international arrivals (million)

50

40
$29b

30

20

10

0
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2015
- forecast -

Source: Mekong Tourism Coordinating Office; GMS NTOs

 Opportunities
GMS tourism-related
revenue by subsector* 2004 2010

Accommodation and Food 5.27 10.51 35.6 %

Transportation 1.94 3.87 13.1 %

Shopping 4.07 8.11 27.5 %

Tours 1.19 2.37 8.0 %

Other Services 2.33 4.64 15.7 %

TOTAL $14.80 $29.50 100 %

*US$ billion

Source: GMS Tourism Sector Strategy estimates

Source: Ashley, 2009 Overseas Development Institute and Netherlands Development Organization SNV
 Opportunities
Women’s Economic Participation in the GMS

Source: ADB. (2009) Gender Related Impacts of the Global Economic Slowdown in the GMS: Emerging Trends and Issues.
 Arrivals by Country 2010

0.79m 3.0m
2.0m

2.3m
5.0m

15.8m

2.5m

Source: GMS National Tourism Organizations 2010

 GMS Strategic Framework
Vision
Prosperous, Integrated and Harmonious Subregion

Prosperity – accelerating inclusive economic growth and sustainable management and protection of
heritage resources
Integration– improving access infrastructure, travel facilitation, promoting common standards,
joint marketing and promotion
Harmony – tourism is the business of peace, friendship and cross-cultural understanding

GMS Mekong Tourism GMS Tourism Sector GMS Sustainable Tourism

Development Project Strategy 2005 – 2015 Development Project
$35m: CAM-LAO-VIE $0.7m: RETA $20m: LAO-VIE

2003 - 2010 2005 2009 - 2014

 Cross Cutting Features
• Infrastructure – mainly “last mile” access and protection infrastructure

• Mainstreaming gender and ethnic participation

• Promotion of pro-poor tourism policies, development of rural excursions, and

women-led micro enterprise support

• Social impact management – IEC to prevent unsafe migration, HIV/AIDS, child

sex tourism, illegal trade in antiquities and wildlife

• HRD development – ToT and cascade training for small hospitality businesses in
secondary destinations and public officials that manage tourism

• Subregional marketing and promotion

• Private sector participation – facilitate socially responsible investments

Gender Focal Points Coordinating Resettlement
 Hardware and Software

Community Market &

Visitor Amenities
No Use –
Sacred Forest

Konglor Cave

Boat landing
Integrated Urban Infrastructure & Micr0 and
Small Enterprise Support
 Advocacy - Pro-poor Tourism Policies

• Legal reforms favoring small inbound tour operators

• Promote affordable access to public markets
• Reform national tour guide regulations – e.g. waiving foreign
language requirement for village-based guides
Information and Education
Information and Education
Marketing and Promotion Assistance
Facilitate Socially
Facilitate SociallyResponsible Investment
Responsible Investment

www.ecotourismlaos.com
Web-based Knowledge Centers
www.stdplaos.com www.stdp.vn.org
 Monitoring

• Tourist arrivals, length of stay and spending

• Employment and income by subsector - participation of men,
women and ethnic groups
• Public revenue for O & M
• Attititudes towards tourism
• Track spending of newfound disposable income
 Lessons

• Systematic awareness seminars on gender and ethnic participation

• Train the IAs to write (rewrite) the gender and ethnic participation action plan
– they will own it
• Promote personal accountability to the work plan in the EA/IAs
• Tourists are willing to pay for a socially responsible product – “extra costs” can
easily be passed on to consumers
• “Inclusive” and labor saving infrastructure essential to facilitate women’s
participation, especially ethnic minority women

Put a tourism specialist on your team during recon missions

(rural transport, urban, TVET, ANR, micro and small enterprise promotion, etc)
Applying a “tourism lens” may identify opportunities to add value to such projects
 coming attractions…

Source: Gambling Compliance. (2009) Asia Awakens: The Growth of Casino Tourism
Thank you

Steven Schipani
Social Sector Specialist
Southeast Asia Regional Department
sschipani@adb.org