Tourism minister Sok Soken addresses the July 25 Cambodia Tourism Revival workshop in Phnom Penh. Tourism Ministry
The Cambodia Tourism Marketing and Promotion Board (CTB), which is chaired by Minister of Tourism Sok Soken, has presented an action plan which it says was designed to rehabilitate the tourism sector. The plan includes immediate, short-term, medium-term and long-term activities.
Soken presented the action plan at the July 25 Cambodia Tourism Revival workshop in Phnom Penh.
He explained that for the past six months, the CTB has been focusing on engaging with international tourism markets, strengthening private sector connections and promoting the integration of Cambodia into tour packages.
According to the minister, the Ministry of Tourism has organised several events and activities to promote tourism through the “Visit Siem Reap 2024” campaign, as well as the “Year of people-to-people exchanges between Cambodia and China” and the first “Cambodia-India tourism year”.
The council will continue to organise FAM Trips – “familiarisation” trips for travel agents and other industry insiders – as well as other promotional events like roadshows and travel fairs. These are being staged both domestically and internationally, especially in Siem Reap province, China and India, with the participation of the private sector. These activities are expected to attract international tourists immediately.
“The CTB will work closely with the tourism ministry to jointly promote these important events to attract domestic and international tourists,” explained Soken.
“For short-term activities, in the next 6-12 months, the council will focus on expanding awareness of Cambodia's reputation. This will include overseas marketing campaigns which focus on public relations and expand our strategies to attract key target markets,” he added.
For medium and long-term activities, the council will focus on expanding the participation of all stakeholders through the development of new tourism products, leisure tourism, business and well-being tourism, as well as the promotion of major infrastructure development projects.
According to Soken, efforts to restore tourism were discussed during a July 10 meeting with Prime Minister Hun Manet, including key solutions to boost tourism for this year’s high season and a strategy for the whole of 2025.
Last week, the Cambodian and Thai ministries of tourism held the third meeting of tourism ministers. The meeting saw both sides commit to facilitating cross-border travel for tourists from both countries and international tourists from third countries.
The two sides also agreed to promote the joint tourism market "Two Kingdoms, One Destination" and the exploration of new potential tourism destinations through “FAM trips”. The two sides will also host joint tourism events and encourage tourists to participate in tourism programmes organised by both nations, added a tourism ministry press release.
Chhort Bunthang, a cultural relations, tourism and education research officer at the Royal Academy of Cambodia, was of the view that the plans released by the CTB are comprehensive, but need to be clearly explained to all stakeholders. Most importantly, they must be implemented effectively.
“If we speak about these plans and have the documents in front of us, but timely action is not taken, the plan will not be successful. In addition to the action plan, I still believe in the importance of excellent tourism services, from the airports and borders to all tourist destinations. All visitors should be served efficiently so they are not deterred. This also applies to filling out any necessary forms,” he said.
“When new guests arrive, they should be able to complete any necessary paperwork quickly and easily, with the assistance of friendly and honest officials. This is something that should be a focus, in addition to the action plan. All Cambodians should embrace these kinds of friendly gestures, including workers like tuk-tuk drivers,” he added.
