The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has joined hands with the Guilin Institute of Tourism (GIT) and the Pacific Asia Travel Association (Pata) to launch a learning programme for travel industry professionals in China.

The five-day ADB-Phnom Penh Plan (PPP) for Development Management Learning Programme on "Tourism Management in the Greater Mekong Subregion" will begin on October 13 in Guangxi.

The programme will be conducted using a combination of learning methods -- lectures, case studies, field visits, group discussions, and problem solving and simulation exercises.

It is aimed at training the middle level civil servants in the Greater Mekong Subregion how to strengthen their competencies to develop and implement functional and strategic tourism interventions (policies, programs, and projects).

It will help develop participants' abilities to analyse tourism issues and their implications for value chain analysis
and also provide best practices and failure case studies in tourism planning and management

Towards the end of the programme, participants will negotiate a deal to develop a rural tourism project by applying the new knowledge derived from the presentations and materials delivered during the prior sessions of the programme.

A team of experts including Dr Trevor Sofield, Professor of Tourism, University of Tasmania; Dr Li Fung Mei Sarah, an independent consultant specialising in China Tourism Development, Policy, and Planning; Alfredo Perdiguero, the principal regional co-operation specialist, ADB; Steven Schipani, the senior social sector specialist, ADB and George Cao, Dragon Trail Interactive, China, will host the session.-TradeArabia News Service