Thailand’s Northeastern or Isan province of Nakhon Phanom has been chosen as the host venue for the Mekong Tourism Forum (MTF) 2018. The Ministry of Tourism and Sports proposed Nakhon Phanom as an ideal host venue for the event because the province’s eastern border is the Mekong River itself and this influences the culture of the region.
Nakhon Phanom, which means “The City of Mountains”, is being promoted by the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) as an up-and-coming tourist destination in Isan, as the province boasts modern infrastructure with convenient road and air connections.

Buyers programme evolved to be larger scale this year following success of programme in 2016 .90% of recommended buyers targeted to attend ITB Asia’s milestone event this year. Buyers recommended by partners and exhibitors include existing clients of exhibitors as well as new potential outbound buyers .
This year there has been an increase in the number of hotel groups participating in the buyer’s programme, including Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group, Best Western Hotel Group, Meliá Hotels International, Resorts World Sentosa, WorldHotels and Pan Pacific Hotels Group.

Exhibitors from the Asia Pacific region have significantly increased the size of their stands at this year’s WTM London – the leading global event for the travel industry. WTM London is also reporting rising interest from visitors who are keen to find out about networking and doing business with firms from the region during WTM London.The growth is seen across the board, from mature markets in Japan, Korea and Australia to emerging destinations such as Kyrgyzstan, Taiwan, Mongolia and Vietnam.

Best Western Hotels & Resorts announced that the Stratosphere Casino, Hotel and Tower and the Aquarius Casino Resort – each owned by American Casino and Entertainment Properties (ACEP) – will join Best Western’s rapidly expanding soft brand, BW Premier Collection® launched in late 2015. Bringing these world-renowned properties with more than 4,000 rooms into the Best Western portfolio represents the largest deal in Best Western’s 70 year history. Deal represents largest in Best Western’s history

Partnership set to attract more Leisure, MICE and Corporate buyers to the milestone ITB Asia event and promote Korea as a world-class destination in Asia. ITB Asia has secured a major partnership with the Korea Tourism Organization of Singapore (KTO). The memorandum of cooperation with Messe Berlin (Singapore) Pte Ltd, organisers of Asia’s leading travel trade show, looks to boost Korea’s appeal as a key destination place in Southeast Asia.

The new Schengen border controls, which were planned and announced before the Brexit vote last year, impose rigorous checks on those people entering the Schengen zone, which embraces 26 European countries. This has caused severe delays – the very kind of delays routinely experienced by visitors entering the UK from the USA or Japan. Having “hard” borders create a miserable experience for visitors. These new controls apply to all Europeans, irrespective of nationality, if they arrive from outside the Schengen zone.