Minister of Tourism Thong Khon said he regarded the River and Sea festivals and other tourism events as good contributors to educating the public about Cambodian agricultural and cultural products and tourism destinations and that the festival also helps to mainstream awareness of environmental protection.
Khon visited the 7th River Festival held in Kampong Thom’s Stung Sen town on March 10, where he said he appreciated the public’s participation in the festival as well as the businesses that displayed their products, the musicians performing at concerts and everyone else who was there to entertain the revelers.
He said that tourism is key to promoting economic activity because it exposes many sectors at once to new consumers, including agriculture, handicrafts and enterprises, environment, culture, arts, sports, education and others.
“The tourism sector is like a salesman. The agriculture sector is about production; the environment sector is protecting the product, while the culture sector does that and helps with the marketing. All of these sectors are successfully marketing their products through tourism events.
“[Hun Sen] has always regarded tourism as an on-the-spot salesman because all local products are showcased and can be purchased by people,” he added.
The 7th River Festival was held from March 8-10 with more than 500 types of Cambodian products on display to tens of thousands of people, according to the tourism ministry.
“Tourism events are an occasion for educating our people and students to help protect the forest and environment, maintain good hygiene and green landscaping and take care of waste management,” Khon said.
