Technical Assistance Consultant’s Report Project Number: 38015-01 April 2008 REG: Sustainable Tourism Development Project Prepared by: Asia Pacific Projects Manila, Philippines For Asian Development Bank This consultant’s report does not necessarily reflect the views of ADB or the Government concerned, and ADB and the Government cannot be held liable for its contents. (For project preparatory technical assistance: All the views expressed herein may not be incorporated into the proposed project’s design. GMS Sustainable Tourism (TA 6279-REG) Final Report I. PURPOSE AND SCOPE 1. The participating governments of Cambodia, Lao PDR, and Viet Nam have as their primary goal, the promotion of sustainable socioeconomic development that focuses upon poverty reduction, sustainable development of their physical environments, and protection of their natural and cultural heritage. In addition, the participating countries have also adopted the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) that commit them to: reduce extreme poverty and hunger by half between 2000 and 2015; ensure environmental sustainability by reversing loss of forest; halve the proportion of the population without improve drinking water, halve the proportion of the population without sanitation, and improving the lives of slum-dwellers; combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis by halting and reversing the spread of these diseases; promote greater gender equality and empower women by providing for equal girls’ enrolment in primary school, increasing women’s share of paid employment, and equal representation in national parliaments; and develop a global partnership for development. A. INTRODUCTION 2. This Final Report presents the analysis and results of the evaluation of the agreed subprojects for inclusion in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Sustainable Tourism Development Loan Project 2007-2012 undertaken by Asia Pacific Projects, Inc. on behalf of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, the Royal Government of Cambodia, and Viet Nam, with the assistance of the Asian Development Bank (ADB, the Bank) project preparatory technical assistance (TA). The TA Fact Finding Mission took place in the three participating countries in August 2005 during which the outcomes, outputs, and scope of activities were agreed with the stakeholders at national and subregional workshops, and outline terms of reference for the TA prepared. A second TA Fact Finding Mission was undertaken in September-October 2006 to evaluate the demonstration subprojects identified in the first Mission, for possible Bank funding. These were subsequently presented at national and subregional workships with stakeholders in each participating country. In January 2007, a final subregional workshop was held in Vientiane to review the Draft Final Report that had been submitted and circulated in November 2006, and in March 2007, the Consultant organized the second Mekong Tourism Investment Forum that focused attention on the financiang of small and medium ecotourism and other CBT-based ventures in the GMS. With the completion of the Loans Fact Finding Mission on 1 March 2008 which was attended by the Team Leader and other team members, the Bank instructed the Consultant to prepare and submit this final report. 3. 4. The TA identifies feasible demonstration subprojects that will be suitable for Bank funding which will assist the participating countries to develop more sustainable and pro-poor patterns of tourism while facilitating the flow of international tourists to their countries through improved tourism facilities and services at land borders and along the GMS Economic Corridors. In addition to the loan components, the TA also identifies a human resource development (HRD) component to be funded on a grant basis, provides inputs on policies, innovative financing approaches, and support a forum for enhancing investment in small to medium tourism enterprises in the participating countries and the GMS as a whole. Purpose and Scope 1 GMS Sustainable Tourism (TA 6279-REG) Final Report B. BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES 5. The participating countries’ strategic approach in the tourism sector has been to work together on issues that are of common concern to them in order to strengthen the contribution that tourism can make to their socioeconomic development, while protecting the valuable natural and cultural heritage on which the tourism sector depends. In recognition of the important contribution that tourism could make toward socioeconomic development, especially poverty reduction and conservation of natural and cultural heritage, the Bank included the tourism sector as one of 11 flagship programs in the ten-year strategic framework of the GMS Economic Cooperation Program. Underlying this framework is the vision of “a GMS that fulfills its vast potential, frees its people from poverty, and provides sustainable development opportunities for all”. In this context, the Bank, at the request of the GMS countries, including those participating in this TA, provided assistance to the GMS countries to prepare a ten-year subregional tourism sector strategy-the GMS Tourism Sector Strategy 2006-2015 (the TSS). 6. At the request of the participating GMS countries of Lao PDR, Cambodia, the People’s Republic of China, and Viet Nam for assistance in implementing key components of the TSS in their countries, the ADB agreed to extend technical assistance to help them identify and evaluate the feasibility of specific subproject proposals and to extend ADB loans and grants for their implementation between 2009 and 2013. 7. The main outcome of this TA feasibility study is a sustainable tourism development project in the participating countries that is suitable for Bank loan and grant funding as well as support through other donors. The main objectives or outputs of the TA are to: • prepare initial project designs and feasibility evaluations for priority tourism-related subprojects dealing with natural, cultural and urban environment protection and conservation; • develop detailed project concept papers and sample site feasibility evaluations for subprojects dealing with pro-poor, tourism attractions along GMS Economic Corridor Zones and improvement of tourism facilities and services at key international border ports; and • prepare a detailed concept paper for grant funding of a network human resource development subprojects focusing on training of trainers in the areas of SME tourism enterprises and public sector tourism officials. 8. These subprojects are intended to serve as demonstration models for sustainable tourism and pro-poor tourism development for the GMS countries. Subprojects have been selected in four priority areas as specified in the TOR: (i) sustainable tourism development in natural, cultural and urban tourism sites (3) in each country or province in case of PRC; (ii) pro-poor tourism subprojects in provinces or counties in each country or province in case of PRC; (iii) cross border and Economic Corridor tourism facilitation subprojects in country or province in case of PRC; and (iv) human resource development subprojects in at least one country or province in case of PRC. In addition, initiatives for tourism sector SME development and investment promotion will also be prepared in parallel with the design of the subprojects. Purpose and Scope 2 GMS Sustainable Tourism (TA 6279-REG) Final Report C. OVERALL APPROACH METHODOLOGY AND WORK PLAN 9. The overall approach methodology used in undertaking this TA to design the project is presented in Figure 1. 10. The TA has been executed in accordance with the TOR that requires that three field missions be undertaken during the course of the feasibility study: o mission by the team leader to identify a short list of subprojects and recommend a final list for discussion and final agreement at an Inception Workshop held on 3 July 2006 in Kunming; o a mission by the full team of consultants to participate in the final selection of subproject sites, undertake an initial evaluation of these sites, and present these findings at a national workshop scheduled at the beginning of each mission in the participating country; and o a second mission by the full team to finalize the project design in each country and to obtain feedback on the design in a second national workshop. Purpose and Scope 3 GMS Sustainable Tourism (TA 6279-REG) Final Report Figure 1: Overall Approach and Methodology for the TA 11. The first mission commenced on 1 May with the Team Leader making a one week visit to each participating country which resulted in the identification of a shortlist of subprojects and recommendations for a final set of subprojects for discussion and agreement at the Inception Workshop held on 3 July 2006. The mission was completed on 6 June 2006. 12. The second field mission by the full team of consultants commenced in Kunming, Yunnan Province PRC on 2 July with a briefing with Bank officers followed by participation in the Inception Workshop on 3 July. Between 4 July and 6 August 2006, the consultants undertook detailed site investigations and discussions with related stakeholders in Cambodia, Lao PDR, and Viet Nam to prepare and discuss initial recommendations at the national workshops organized at the end of the team’s presence in each country. The mission spent approximately ten days in each country and one week in Bangkok to draft the Interim report. This mission was completed on 12 August. During the course of the first mission, one subregional and three national workshops were held