(TITC) – On August 26, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Vietnam Lam Thi Phuong Thanh chaired the first CLV Tourism Ministers’ Meeting (Cambodia – Lao PDR – Vietnam).
Promoting the “One Journey, Three Destinations” Initiative
In her opening remarks, Minister Lam Thi Phuong Thanh emphasized that the first CLV Tourism Ministers’ Meeting marks an important milestone in concretizing the direction agreed upon by the Prime Ministers of Cambodia, Lao PDR and Vietnam at their meeting in Ho Chi Minh City in February 2025 to establish a cooperation mechanism among the three tourism ministers and implement the “One Journey, Three Destinations” initiative.
Building on three previous meetings of the CLV NTOs, the three countries have gradually established a solid foundation for tourism cooperation. The Conference officially launches the Tourism Ministerial cooperation mechanism, with a view to promoting more substantive and effective tourism development among the three countries.
According to Minister Lam Thi Phuong Thanh, Cambodia, Lao PDR and Vietnam share traditional bonds of friendship and have many complementary tourism potentials and advantages. Located within the Mekong sub-region and endowed with distinctive cultural and natural heritage, together with increasingly convenient transport connectivity, the three countries are well positioned to develop a common destination with its own identity, strong appeal and competitiveness in the regional and international tourism markets.
Emphasizing that CLV tourism cooperation should be developed with a long-term vision, the Minister called on the three countries to work towards positioning “One Journey, Three Destinations” as a distinctive common tourism brand, contributing to sustainable and inclusive tourism development.
To achieve this goal, the Minister proposed that the meeting identify specific targets and measurable outcomes in the Joint Action Plan on CLV Tourism Cooperation, providing a basis for monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of cooperation at each stage, rather than limiting efforts to broad orientations.
The organization of the meeting back-to-back with the ITE HCMC was considered a meaningful and timely opportunity for the three countries to announce their new cooperation orientations, amid growing international interest in regional and multi-destination travel. The Minister also called on Cambodia, Lao PDR and Vietnam to continue coordinating and strengthening their common voice at multilateral tourism forums and other regional cooperation mechanisms, thereby enhancing the position and voice of CLV tourism internationally.
CLV identifies six key areas for comprehensive tourism cooperation
At the meeting, Vice Chairwoman of the Vietnam National Authority of Tourism Nguyen Thi Hoa Mai presented the report on the outcomes of the third Meeting of the CLV National Tourism Organizations, together with the Terms of Reference (TOR) for the “One Journey, Three Destinations” Tourism Cooperation Framework and the draft Joint Action Plan on CLV Tourism Cooperation 2026 – 2028.
Vice Chairwoman said that the third Meeting of the CLV National Tourism Organizations was held on August 25 in Ho Chi Minh City under Vietnam’s chairmanship, with the participation of representatives from the national tourism organizations of the three countries.
According to the report, the TOR of the CLV Tourism Cooperation Framework, adopted at the second meeting held in Phnom Penh in December 2025, identifies key objectives including developing and promoting the three countries as a high-quality common destination; strengthening cooperation to facilitate travel and seamless itineraries; and providing a platform for sharing experiences and good practices.
Assessing tourism development results, Vice Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Hoa Mai noted that in 2025, the three countries received 31.3 million international visitors, an increase of 10.3% compared with 2024. Vietnam recorded growth of 20.4%, Lao PDR 11.2%, while Cambodia saw a decline of 16.9%. In the first six months of 2026, the three countries attracted a combined 16.6 million international visitors, indicating that the growth trend has continued.
Notably, intra-regional travel reached 3.18 million visitor arrivals in 2025, accounting for 10.2% of the total international visitor arrivals to the three countries. Vietnam remained a major source market for both Cambodia and Lao PDR, with more than 1 million Vietnamese visitors traveling to each country. In the first half of 2026, intra-regional tourist flows reached 1.64 million arrivals.
Vice Chairwoman emphasized that all cooperation activities share the common goal of developing Cambodia, Lao PDR and Vietnam into an interconnected tourism space under the “One Journey, Three Destinations” positioning, in line with the orientations of the senior leaders of the three countries.
Based on the discussions, the third Meeting of the CLV National Tourism Organizations finalized the draft Joint Action Plan on Tourism Cooperation 2026 -2028 for consideration and adoption by the Tourism Ministers. The Plan focuses on six areas: (1) joint product development and connectivity; (2) joint marketing, promotion and branding; (3) public-private partnership and product linkage; (4) capacity building and experience sharing; (5) sustainable, responsible and community-based tourism development; and (6) institutional strengthening and cooperation with international partners.
Multi-country tourism products and gastronomy: Initiatives to advance the “One Journey, Three Destinations” model
Discussing orientations to advance the initiative and implement the “One Journey, Three Destinations” model, Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Vietnam Ho An Phong affirmed Vietnam’s commitment to deepening tourism cooperation among the three countries, with a focus on developing quality products and experiences that deliver tangible value to visitors. Vietnam therefore proposed two concrete initiatives to promote tourism connectivity among the three countries.
The first initiative is to develop and market multi-country tourism products. The three countries will coordinate in organizing a CLV tourism product survey trip for tourism officials, travel businesses and media organizations. The activity aims to enhance understanding of each country’s tourism products and service standards, while conducting field surveys of new routes and destinations to identify opportunities for linkages and the development of cross-border tourism products. Through the survey trip, the three countries seek to develop a complete CLV tourism itinerary that can be introduced to international travel partners, thereby gradually bringing the “One Journey, Three Destinations” model into practice.
The second initiative is to strengthen gastronomy promotion. Vietnam proposed that the three countries jointly organize a CLV gastronomy promotion programme in one of the three countries. The programme could include demonstrations, introductions and experiences featuring signature dishes, combined with communications activities to promote the culinary image of all three countries. This would provide an opportunity to make gastronomy – one of the key cultural attractions for international visitors – a pillar of the three countries’ tourism brand, while opening opportunities to develop cross-border culinary tourism itineraries in the next phase.
Affirming Vietnam’s commitment to CLV tourism cooperation, Deputy Minister Ho An Phong said that hosting the first CLV Tourism Ministers’ Meeting demonstrates Vietnam’s determination to strengthen the cooperation mechanism among the three countries. Vietnam will continue working with international organizations and partners to mobilize technical, financial and communications resources for the implementation of cooperation activities.
In her closing remarks, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Vietnam Lam Thi Phuong Thanh emphasized that the first CLV Tourism Ministers’ Meeting had completed its agenda, marking an important starting point for the tourism cooperation mechanism among the three countries.
At the meeting, the three sides discussed orientations for advancing the “One Journey, Three Destinations” initiative and adopted two important documents: the Joint Action Plan on CLV Tourism Cooperation 2026-2028 and the Joint Declaration of the Meeting, establishing a foundation for implementing practical cooperation activities in the coming period.
The three countries also set a target of promoting international tourist growth and striving to welcome 35 million international visitors to the CLV region in 2026.
The Minister expressed her confidence that, building on the traditional bonds of friendship and close ties among the three countries, Cambodia – Lao PDR – Vietnam tourism cooperation will continue to develop in a substantive and effective manner, leveraging each country’s strengths, strengthening connectivity and developing competitive cross-border tourism products.
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