Ulaanbaatar
Khovd aimag prepares itself for International Tourism Mart in Ulaanbaatar
Society
Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/. On September 23, the SPACES (Supporting Protected Areas for the Conservation of Ecosystem Services) project implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH in cooperation with the Ministry of Environment and Tourism organized a training for tourist accommodation providers from the Khovd region. The participants learned how to prepare themselves for Mongolia’s International Tourism Mart (ITM) which will take place on October 30 and 31, in Ulaanbaatar.
The
training was conducted at the Department of Environment and Tourism by Ms.
Mieke Kuiters and Ms. Soninbolor Tuguldur, SPACES’ GIZ staff for Tourism
Development in the Khovd region and took place amidst a full week of tourism
and hospitality training organized by the Ministry of Environment and Tourism. Participants
of the SPACES-training were informed about the benefits of promoting their own
tourist camp or hotel at tourism trade shows, the importance of building a
strong regional tourism product and creating a solid network among stakeholders
in tourism.
About
half of the participants of the training are newcomers in the tourism sector,
who received support from SPACES to start a tourism business or who received
support to improve their existing business. The Khovd Tourism Association, also
present at the training, sided with SPACES in emphasizing the importance of
capacity building to ensure an equitable relationship with Tour Operators.
At the
ITM, tourism accommodation providers have the opportunity to sign contracts
with Tour Operators for the coming season. To promote their ger camp or hotel,
participants of the training learned to describe their accommodation and made a
start with designing their own promotion flyers. Putting the information to the
test, participants also engaged in a roleplay to practice a business discussion
with a Tour Operator, which emphasized the importance of good communication with
Tour Operators. Participants expressed feeling much more confident about their
own role and responsibilities in tourism development and all are looking
forward to performing at their best at the ITM.
The
SPACES project is a Mongolian-German cooperation project funded by the German
Government and implemented by GIZ and MET. For more information please contact: Dr. Michael Trockenbrodt, SPACES Project
Manager; E: michael.trockenbrodt@giz.de
Source: GIZ Mongolia
