Countries from the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) convened the first Destination Mekong Summit via video conference on August 26 to discuss ways to revive tourism during and after the COVID-19 crisis, according to the Cambodian Ministry of Tourism.

Tourists visit Thailand (Photo: AFP) 

Senior official from the GMS countries, namely Cambodia, China, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos and Vietnam, touched upon various topics including solutions to the impact of the pandemic, ways to restore regional tourism, and measures taken by each GMS country to ensure tourists' safety and to prevent the spread of the virus.

The meeting noted that the infection rate in the GMS countries is very low compared to that of other regions but foreign tourists are still not permitted because the risk of imported cases is still high.

Thailand initiated the "green travel bubble" concept on a bilateral or trilateral basis during the meeting, and if successful it could be extended to a multilateral level.