Tourism conferences are filled with familiar phrases: sustainable tourism, responsible tourism, community-based tourism, and people-centred tourism.
Yet every so often, a conversation rises above the buzzwords and reminds us why these ideas matter in the first place; that happened during the "People at the Centre of Tourism" session at Mekong Tourism Forum 2026.
Moderated by Graham Harper, Director of Clickable Impact, the discussion brought together four women whose work is changing lives across Myanmar, Cambodia, China, and Southeast Asia. What made the session memorable was not simply what they said, but what they do every day.
Through their organizations, they are helping women build businesses, preparing young people for meaningful careers, creating opportunities for people with disabilities, and ensuring communities have a stronger voice in shaping their own futures.
In short, they walk the talk.
When women thrive, communities thrive
Across the Mekong region, women are often the driving force behind community tourism enterprises, homestays, cultural experiences, food businesses, handicrafts, and local entrepreneurship. Yet many continue to face barriers when it comes to leadership, representation, and access to opportunity.
Few understand that reality better than Thiri Aung.
As CEO and Founder of Women Transforming Myanmar, she works with a network of more than 5,000 women entrepreneurs across Myanmar. The organization supports women through business development, mentoring, leadership training, professional networking, and access to opportunities that help them grow sustainable enterprises.
Behind every entrepreneur is a story. A family business. A community initiative. A woman creating opportunities not only for herself but for those around her.
Drawing on that experience, Thiri challenged delegates to think beyond participation.
Women need access to markets, finance, skills, and professional networks.
They need a seat at the table where decisions are made.
And they need opportunities not only to contribute, but to lead.
"Invest in women, when women thrive, communities thrive," she said.
It was one of the simplest messages of the session and perhaps one of the most powerful. When women succeed, entire communities often benefit.
A job is an outcome. A career is an impact.
Tourism destinations around the world continue to face workforce challenges.
Finding employees is one thing.
Developing future leaders is another.
That challenge sits at the heart of the work being done by Ha Phan and ASSET-H&C (Association of Southeast Asian Social Enterprises for Training in Hospitality & Catering).
Operating through a network of vocational training centres and social enterprises across Southeast Asia, ASSET-H&C supports young people from disadvantaged backgrounds through hospitality and tourism education, workforce development, and career preparation. Its members work across multiple countries to provide training that combines technical skills with communication, English language proficiency, digital literacy, leadership development, mentoring, and career guidance.
For Ha, tourism's future depends on investing in people long before they welcome their first guest.
"I often say that a job placement is an outcome, but a career pathway is an impact."
The distinction is important.
Tourism can create jobs.
People-centred tourism creates futures.
Ha reminded delegates that young people are not simply future employees. They can become mentors, managers, entrepreneurs, and ambassadors for their local culture, heritage, and destination values.
"The future of sustainable tourism depends not only on where people travel, but on how we invest in the people who welcome them."
Her comments highlighted a truth often overlooked in tourism planning: workforce development is not charity. It is an investment in service quality, destination competitiveness, and long-term resilience.
Inclusion is a right, not a favour
If one message stopped delegates in their tracks, it came from Sokny Onn.
In Kampot, Cambodia, Epic Arts has become an internationally recognised example of disability inclusion in action. Through initiatives such as Epic Arts Café, Epic Creations, and Epic Arts Dance, people with disabilities are not positioned as beneficiaries. They are artists, performers, entrepreneurs, employees, and leaders.
Visitors who walk into the café do not encounter a charity project.
They encounter professionalism.
Creativity.
Talent.
And possibility.
As CEO of Epic Arts and a member of Yale University's Accessibility Advisory Committee, Sokny challenged delegates to rethink how accessibility is discussed within tourism.
"Disability inclusion is a right, not a favor. It is not charity. People with disabilities are equal citizens, customers, workers, artists, entrepreneurs, and leaders."
For Sokny, inclusion cannot be treated as an afterthought.
It must be built into tourism from the beginning.
That means accessible spaces, fair employment opportunities, respectful communication, equal opportunities, and meaningful participation in decision-making.
"Inclusive tourism is not only about making places accessible for people with disabilities to visit," she said. "It is also about creating pathways for them to work, create, lead, and be recognized as equal contributors to culture, community, society, and the economy."
Her closing message lingered long after the discussion ended.
"When people with disabilities lead, tourism becomes more than an industry. It becomes a platform for dignity, equality, and change."
Who gets a voice?
As the conversation shifted toward sustainability, Koko Tang challenged delegates to consider a question that often receives far less attention than visitor arrivals or tourism revenue.
Who gets a voice?
Through her work as Founder of Colorful Earth and Head of Global Impact Measurement at the World Sustainable Hospitality Alliance, Koko explores how tourism intersects with biodiversity conservation, local livelihoods, culture, and community well-being.
Working extensively in Yunnan and other destinations where communities and ecosystems are deeply connected, she has seen firsthand how tourism can either strengthen local stewardship or weaken it.
Her argument was straightforward.
Conservation and community empowerment are not separate goals.
Neither are culture, biodiversity, local livelihoods, and tourism.
They are part of the same system.
She also challenged the industry to rethink how success is measured.
"If we say tourism puts people at the centre, we need to measure not only who benefits economically, but also who has voice, whether that voice is representative, and whether it actually influences decisions."
For Koko, tourism should do more than market destinations.
It should help care for them.
"Tourism should not only promote places; it should help steward them as living landscapes."
In a region known for its extraordinary biodiversity and cultural richness, her message felt particularly timely.
More than a panel discussion
What made the session so compelling was that the panelists were not speaking from theory.
Through their organizations, they are already putting people-centred tourism into practice.
Supporting more than 5,000 women entrepreneurs in Myanmar.
Creating career pathways for disadvantaged youth across Southeast Asia.
Demonstrating disability inclusion through arts, hospitality, and community development in Cambodia.
Helping destinations balance community well-being, biodiversity conservation, and tourism growth.
An interesting observation emerged during the session. All four speakers were women, and across the forum's two featured panel discussions, seven of the eight panelists were women.
This was not a planned theme.
Rather, it reflected a reality increasingly visible across the region: many of the people doing the heavy lifting in responsible tourism, community development, accessibility, workforce development, cultural preservation, and destination stewardship are women.
Readers interested in learning more about the organizations represented during the discussion are encouraged to explore the work of Women Transforming Myanmar, ASSET-H&C, Epic Arts, and Colorful Earth.
Their approaches differ.
Their communities differ.
Their challenges differ.
Yet together they point toward the same conclusion.
Tourism succeeds not simply when more people visit a destination, but when more people have the opportunity to shape, benefit from, and take pride in its future.
