Tourism in the Pacific Asia region is growing at a rapid rate and is expected to maintain its momentum well into the next century as well. Last year we saw over 70 million travelling to and within the region. We have also seen, in the past few years, the opening of several new airports, many new air routes, accommodation, entertainment and other related facilities. We know that there is much more to come. We see the New Age traveller becoming more and more demanding--looking for new places to visit, new things to see and do.

As new frontiers such as the Mekong Subregion open up for tourism and promote their wares to travellers, the region must recognise new needs and new challenges. The region's destinations and planners of travel need to heed the call for sustainability of the yet pristine nature of the environment, however possible and however difficult. They need to present segmented products with least pressure on resources that support their delivery. They also need to ensure that standards of service are of a high quality.

When the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) undertook the challenge of assisting the promotion of tourism to the Mekong Subregion, it was with the firm belief that the Association could be catalytic in supporting the efforts of the Mekong countries to do just that. With over 45 years of providing the tourism industry leadership and supporting the development of destinations and travel products, PATA is in a vantage position to do so.

Among the promotional tools prepared for marketing the Mekong subregion are a high quality video, a publication and this World Wide Web page on the Internet. They are the fruits of a partnership between PATA and American Express Intemational, whose kind sponsorship facilitated its preparation. PATA, on behalf of the Mekong Subregion countries, thanks American Express International for the support and assistance.

PATA also wishes to thank the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the Economic and Social Cooperation for the Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), the six countries comprising the Mekong Subregion and numerous individual crusaders for the spirit of partnership and the pioneering efforts in focusing the world's attention on this new and dynamic tourism destination area.

Let these partnerships foster and work to build a new era of sustainable development for the Mekong Subregion.