The Board of Directors of Mekong Tourism Coordinating Office (MTCO) is pleased to announce the appointment of Ms Suvimol Thanasarakij as its new Executive Director, effective March 15, 2022.
The appointment was officially agreed by the National Tourism Organizations (NTOs) of the six Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) countries at the Special MTCO Board Meeting.
“We are happy to welcome Ms Suvimol to our GMS tourism family, particularly as she is the first female Executive Director, and the first one with GMS nationality in MTCO’s 16-year history,” said Mr Somxay Sipaseuth, Deputy Director General of Tourism Development Department from the Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism Lao PDR, which is also Chair of the upcoming 49th GMS Tourism Working Group Meeting.
He added: “Suvimol brings to MCTO her extensive experience in tourism industry and an in-depth expertise in international cooperation and project management. With her proven capacity to build strategic international partnerships and bolster support for various programs, we are confident that she will be a force in driving GMS tourism cooperation forward in this exciting, but also challenging time.”
Ms Suvimol said: “I am honored to be selected as MTCO’s Executive Director, succeeding Mr Jens Thraenhart. I look forward to working closely with the MTCO Board, international organizations, development partners, other travel and tourism stakeholders in promoting GMS countries as a single destination and supporting regional tourism development for a sustainable and inclusive recovery.”
Ms Suvimol is a planning and coordination expert with 23 years’ of experience delivering high-level multilateral programs and events for institutions such as the Association of Southeast Asia Nations (ASEAN) and the U.S. Department of State.
Prior to joining MTCO, she worked for Strategic Capacity Group, where she implemented multilateral programs on behalf of the U.S. government across Southeast Asia. She spent more than eight years managing tourism marketing projects for ASEAN. She also worked for the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA), Shangri-La Hotel Bangkok and Centara Hotels & Resorts.
Ms Suvimol holds a Masters Degree in Tourism Management from the University of Surrey in the UK. She graduated with honors from Assumption University in Bangkok, Thailand, with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration, with Hotel Management major.
