The APSARA National Authority (ANA) is promoting many small temples in Siem reap province which are yet to be discovered by tourists.

The ANA has been improving infrastructure and increasing advertisements through tourism-related businesses to make them more widely known.

ANA spokesman Long Kosal told The Post on August 15 that many of the smaller temples in the province were unknown to tourists, so the ANA was building parking lots and roads to these locations to make them more accessible.

It is also working on the temples themselves, making sure that they were safe for tourists.

“We have a few things to get done before tourists can visit. We are preparing each location before adding it to the tourism maps we provide,” said Kosal.

He said that the large tourism-related businesses often only arrange package trips which view the bigger temples. The ANA is working with these businesses to include other attractions. Independent tourists would also benefit if the smaller temples became more well known.

Kosal added that one of the main drivers behind the push is to encourage visitors to spend more time in the province. The ANA wants tourists to visit more than just the main temples.

He could not confirm the total number of smaller temples, saying that there are many more beautiful temples that are not widely known by the public.