The theme of the 11th International Travel Expo (ITE) at the Saigon Exhibition and Convention Centre (SECC) is ‘Five Countries One Destination’. The five countries that make up the Greater Mekong Sub region (GMS) – Vietnam, Thailand, Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia – are making a joint effort to develop and promote tourism in the region in a mutually beneficial way. ITE is the region’s largest travel trade show. This effort towards regional solidarity offers many opportunities for information exchange and establishment of long-term cooperation and partnerships in the time to come.
In particular, the Bilateral Ministerial Meetings between Vietnam and ASEAN tourism ministers, organised within ITE are meaningful highlights as they are not only a new model of cooperation among regional countries through exchanges and connectivity, but also of great meaning in welcoming the launch of ASEAN Community by the end of this year.
The opening ceremony of ITE HCMC 2015 held at the GEM Centre in the historical District 1 of the city yesterday was attended by the tourism ministers of all the five countries. The evening also witnessed the 7th Mekong Tourism Alliance Awards which celebrated the brightest tourism stars in the GMS among inbound and outbound tour operators, 5 star hotels, airlines, resorts and most attractive tangible heritage of the year.