A joint South Korean-Cambodian workshop will address the Kingdom’s digital tourism strategies as the sector experiences a slight drop in the number of Korean visitors this year. Hong Menea
South Korea and Cambodia will collaborate on a two-day workshop in Siem Reap province this week to promote tourism through digital marketing. The Kingdom has seen a small drop in the number of Korean tourists this year.
The workshop, which is to be held under the theme Digital Tourism and E-Marketing and is organised by Asean-Korea Centre and the Ministry of Tourism, will run from Wednesday to Thursday.
It aims to identify trends and opportunities in the rapidly transforming tourism industry and to support Cambodia’s digital marketing strategies in attracting more Korean and foreign tourists, the Asean-Korea Centre said on Tuesday.
It said experts from the Korean Tourism Organisation, Glance TV (a leading Korean cross-channel content cooperation “omnichannel”) and online Korean travel agency NHN Doctortour Corporation will share their marketing know-how, best practices and success stories in their responses to the digital transformation of tourism.
“The experts will exchange views with Cambodian participants on ways to further develop and consolidate the competitiveness of the tourism industry, including through public-private partnerships in the increasingly competitive digital era,” the Asean-Korea Centre said.
Participants will be introduced to tourism products and services tailored to Korean travellers based on analyses of recent trends in Korean tourism, it said.
It said the workshop is expected to aid Cambodia in adapting to the digital transformation of tourism and provide an occasion for expanding Korea-Cambodia tourism cooperation into new areas. It also aims to contribute to boosting the number of Koreans travelling to Cambodia.
The Ministry of Tourism said the number of South Korean tourists to Cambodia fell to 172,000 in the first eight months of the year, from almost 210,000 during the same period last year.
However, the total number of inbound tourists rose to 4.36 million in the first eight months, compared to some 3.95 million during the same period last year – an increase of 10.4 per cent.
Ministry of Tourism spokesman Tob Sopheak said the decline in the number of Korean tourists to the Kingdom could be due to them changing destinations, while tourism options in Cambodia were still limited.
He said the workshop would help increase South Korean tourist numbers.
“Currently, the Ministry of Tourism is trying to cooperate with relevant institutions to resolve negatives points affecting the tourism sector. In the meantime, the ministry is improving the quality of service and developing further tourism products to make visitors extend their stay,” Sopheak said.
