Following the success of its efforts to promote travel to the coastline of Cambodia, the Tourism Ministry will now focus on ecotourism development in the northeast.
While Tourism Minister Thong Kong had previously asked authorities to focus on industry development in Sihanoukville, Siem Reap and Phnom Penh, the ministry would now inject more resources into ecotourism in Mondulkiri, Ratanakkiri, Stung Trung and Kratie provinces.
“In the coming months, we will hold a big seminar in the northeastern area of the country to focus on the ecotourism. We will strengthen those provinces because in the past we strengthened the coastal area,” said Thong Kong.
Cambodia’s ecotourism – the country’s second largest industry in terms of revenue — had a big potential, he said.
Some of the region’s highlights were its natural beauty, ethnic diversity and dolphin watching, he added.
Based on the three-month data from the ministry, international tourist arrivals to Cambodia’s northeastern provinces rose 17.2 percent to 18,288 tourists.
The minister also encouraged the private sector to help in the human resource development in the field of tourism.
According to Nget Pitou, director of the Tourism Department of Ratanakiri, the heightened attention given to the region could prove successful as the provinces offered many untapped tourism resources.
“I see a lots of potential eco-sites in the northeastern provinces,” he said.
