Rubbish bins are placed along the riverside of the capital’s Daun Penh district. Hong Menea
An estimated 500 people, including representatives from the Ministry of Tourism, Phnom Penh Municipal Administration, civil society organisations and youths, will gather to celebrate World Tourism Day 2002 with a massive rubbish collection programme in the capital.
The day will be held with the theme of “Rethinking Tourism”, with Phnom Penh residents urged to clean up the environment together.
According to the ministry, the gathering is set to be held on October 28 at the Techo Meas and Techo Yot Park, on the riverside of the capital’s Daun Penh district.
“Phnom Penh municipal deputy governor Huot Hay will deliver the opening remarks, followed by Mam Veasna, director of the Phnom Penh municipal tourism department, who will read a letter from Prime Minister Hun Sen marking the occasion,” said the ministry.
Thong Rathsak, the ministry’s director- general of Tourism Development and International Cooperation, said on October 27 that the day comes as the authorities and their partners begin to consider post-Covid-19 tourism.
“We will take this opportunity to clean up the environment together to make Phnom Penh beautiful. We will pick up rubbish and install dustbins,” he said.
To celebrate the day and promote tourism within Cambodia, the ministry has posted signs and banners in popular tourism destinations and urged all relevant institutions to promote the tourism potential of Cambodia.
Pheap Chanchealin, a marketing and social media assistant at River Ocean Cleanup, said this year’s event focuses on tourism recovery. A clean environment and fresh air, she said, will help tourism grow and attract national and international tourists.
“We will work together to clean up. This will encourage the public to join us in caring for the environment,” she said.
Chanchealin added that cleaning up rubish on land is as important as restoring the Kingdom’s waterways to a pristine condition.
According to the tourism ministry, the first nine months of this year had seen over one million international tourists in Cambodia – an increase of 861 per cent over the same period last year.
The number of domestic tourists had increased by 247 per cent in the period, with that of foreign residents travelling jumping by 605 per cent.
