Prime Minister Hun Manet has appointed the official composition of the Cambodia Tourism Marketing and Promotion Board (CTB) to encourage collaboration between the public and private sectors to promote potential destinations to the international markets.
The appointment was made based on the ‘Revision of the Sub-decree on the Organization and Functioning of the CTB’ dated February 6 this year, following the principles of collective thinking and practice with responsibilities, which was stamped for approval by the Premier on June 27 and announced by the Ministry of Tourism (MoT) on the next day.
Sok Soken, Minister of Tourism was appointed as the Chairman of the CTB, leading eight ministries and seven private sectors that hold significant roles in the tourism industry across the Kingdom.
The diversified composition of 15 institutions reflected the comprehensive thinking and full participation of the Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC) in strengthening partnerships and cooperation between the public and private sectors.
The initiative aimed to jointly promote the attractiveness and competitiveness of the Kingdom’s potential tourist destinations, solve the challenges and achieve developmental objectives.
According to the MoT press release, the revision of the mechanism has proceeded through several stages of in-depth discussion and consultation with the private sector and key stakeholders, under the direct leadership of the Minister of Tourism and ongoing guidance from Prime Minister Hun Manet.
The CTB will act as a facilitative and receive platform, enabling the private sector to fully collaborate with the government in accordance with the principle known as ‘Think Together, Act Together and Take Responsibility Together,’ the statement added.
By funding technical and conceptual contributions, the mechanism focused on developing the tourism sector, aligning with the rapidly evolving global and regional tourism trends that required high flexibility to ensure the industry’s sustainability, inclusive and resilient.
The launch of the CTB marked an important milestone in advancing the tourism ministry’s strategic initiative ‘BUILD + 3Ds’ contributing to the achievement of the tourism vision in the Pentagonal Strategy – Phase One, turning the country into a leading and vibrant tourism destination.
Based on the MoT announcement, the seven private sectors consist of the Cambodia Chamber of Commerce, the Cambodian Oknha Association, the Cambodia Tourism Federation, Angkor International Airport Investment (Cambodia) Co Ltd, the Cambodia Angkor Air, Air Asia Cambodia and the Société Concessionnaire de l’Aeroport (Cambodia Airports).
The eight representatives were from the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts, the Ministry of Environment, the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications and the State Secretariat of Civil Aviation which led by MoT.
Craig Dodge, Director of Sales and Marketing of Phare Circus told Khmer Times, “Cambodia still is competing with neighbouring countries who spend large sums of money on destination marketing.”
“You can have the best restaurant in the world, but no one will come if they don’t know about it,” Dodge said.
He underlined that the problem lies in the marketing of the tourism destinations in Cambodia, especially at the international travel trade shows, countries like Thailand will have enormous, beautiful displays with tourism information but not so often for the Kingdom.
