Angkor Wat was crowned as ‘the most famous temple in Asia’ by the US-based website Touropia Travel Guides. YOUSOS APDOULRASHIM
The tourism ministry has announced it will be holding a tourism roadshow in Medan, Indonesia from June 21-25 to connect with tour operators and drive visitors to Cambodia, as the Kingdom attempts to position itself as a sports and exhibitions tourism destination in the lead up to the 2023 SEA Games.
The Ministry of Tourism announced on May 26 that the event, named “Cambodian Tourism Roadshow: Visit Cambodia NEXT as a Safe, Warm, Clean and Green Tourism Destination”, aims to promote the potential of Cambodia’s tourism sector and strengthen the relationship between the private sector of the two countries to increase sales of Cambodian tour packages in the Indonesian market.
The ministry said it hopes with the event to promote the attractiveness of Cambodia as a MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) facilities destination and a sports events destination via the 2023 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games, which the Kingdom is due to host next May.
It said that the event “follows the spirit” and agenda set at the recent ASEAN Tourism Ministerial Meeting, which encouraged member states to consider opening up to tourists, especially from within the region. The ministry said the organisation of the roadshow was in line with the vision established by the 2022-2023 second phase (Recovery) of Cambodia’s tourism rehabilitation roadmap.
The ministry also called on all tourism-related businesses, industry associations and other relevant private companies “to participate in seizing the opportunity to promote and sell Cambodian tour packages on the Indonesian market”.
The announcement said that the ministry would be holding a press conference and Table Top Sales Meeting between Cambodian sellers and Indonesian buyers, as well as a workshop on the Kingdom’s travel destinations to about 200 tourism businesses and major Indonesian industry bodies.
Prak Vuthy, director of the ministry’s Overseas Marketing and Promotion Department, told The Post that the roadshow had previously been held in the Philippines and that the ministry will seek to hold it in other ASEAN countries in future.
“We are holding the Cambodian tourism roadshow in Indonesia to engage with the private sector … as ASEAN’s countries have now mostly reopened. We want them to arrange tour packages to Cambodia,” he said.
Vuthy added that the last tourism roadshow, held in the Philippines, generated significant interest and participation, and that companies from the host country were “happy that Cambodia was the first among other countries [to host a tourism event], being the first country to have reopened”.
He said that after the conclusion of that event, many Filipino travel companies have pledged to organise a Cambodian tour package.
The tourism ministry has received approval from the government to organise the Cambodian tourism roadshow event in Vietnam, Singapore and several other countries in the region to connect with private tourism companies and promote Cambodian tourism, as almost all countries in the ASEAN region begin to reopen to tourists after domestic Covid-19 cases taper off.
