Preah Sihanouk provincial governor Kuoch Chamroeun announced a video competition which aims to promote the importance of protecting the sustainability of coastal environment.

Titled “Clean beaches, good environment, happy tourists”, the event invites members of the public, especially students, to produce a short educational video.

“This competition aims to raise awareness of the value of Cambodian beaches, especially Preah Sihanouk’s beautiful beaches, which are often called the rising stars of the southwest, and promote the Kingdom’s tourist sector,” said a March 5 notice.

The contest is open to teams of five to seven members. Each group must submit a single video which is from 90 to 180 seconds in length.

“No music may be used that could violate intellectual property laws, and the film must be shot on a beach within Preah Sihanouk province. Each video must contain a short educational message,” added the notice.

The administration will select the best works and post them on the province’s official Facebook page, where they will compete to attract “likes”.

Chamroeun said that to ensure transparency, the competition will be determined entirely by the number of likes each video receives.

“The videos will be posted for a period of 21 days, from March 21 until the evening of April 10,” he added.

Each group can also post and share their work to their own social media channels to attract more support. Videos should be submitted to the administration via Telegram by March 20.

Chamroeun said the provincial administration will award a one-night, two-day tour package to Koh Rong to the producers of the five most popular videos.

The winning team will also receive five million riel ($1,250), with the runner-up awarded three million riel.

The teams that place third through fifth will receive cash payments of two, one-and-a-half and one million riel, respectively.