Angkor: Culture & Tourism Destination SOK Sangvar, Deputy Director General, APSARA February 24-26 th 2016, Nara, Japan UNWTO International Conference on Heritage Tourism: How Do We Foster, Present and Preserve World Treasures?
Angkor: Culture &
Tourism Destination
SOK Sangvar, Deputy Director General, APSARA February 24-26th 2016, Nara, Japan
UNWTO International Conference on Heritage Tourism: How Do We Foster, Present and Preserve World Treasures?
• Diverse tourism products
– Ecotourism
– Seaside tourism
– Urban tourism
– Cultural tourism
Tourism in Cambodia
ecotourism
PP
• River dolphin
• Trekking
• Minorities
• Waterfall
Tourism in Cambodia: Ecotourism
• Beautiful beaches
• White sand
• Virgin islands
• Colorful underwater
• Fresh seafood
Tourism in Cambodia: Seaside tourism
• Royal palace
• Historical buildings
• Museums
• Traditional markets
• Dynamic capital
Tourism in Cambodia: Urban tourism
• World heritage: – Angkor – Preah Vihear – Royal Ballet – Shadow puppet
• Traditions • Khmer lifestyle • Khmer cuisine • Cultural Events
Tourism in Cambodia: Cultural tourism
• An important pillar for Cambodia’s economy ( more than 10 % of GPD, 2014)
• Important source of employment ( aprox.500,000 jobs, 2014)
• A solution to the poverty
alleviation
Tourism for Cambodia
• Tourism is not a luxury for Cambodia
• Tourism is a real need for the country
Tourism for Cambodia
• Angkor
– Temple
– Environment
– People
Angkor: Strong Values
Angkor: Strong values • Economic value • Cultural value: Soul of Cambodia
• Increasing number of national and international tourists
• Nature of Tourism: Benefits and Impacts
• Too many visitors?? => ATM, it is NOT about number but Management. More benefits and less impact
Core philosophy for Angkor
“ Conservation for Development
and Development for Conservation ”
Methodology
• National Heritage Values
• Outstanding Universal Values by ICOMOS and UNESCO (i,ii,iii,iv criteria)
• UNESCO World Heritage Listing in 1992
Values
Issues
• Managing Visitors at Angkor as Visitor Numbers Increase :
– Around 10,000 visitors per day in Angkor
• Understanding and Communicating Heritage Values:
– Some visitors do not fully understand that Angkor is a Sacred site.
– Values of Angkor are sometime not well communicated.
Issues
• Site Impacts:
– Touching carvings, graffiti, littering, breaking temple structure
• Visitor Experience, Behavior and Safety
– Noise, large crowd sometime impact on visitors’ experience
– Inappropriate behaviors or lack of infrastructure can put visitors at danger
Issues
• Infrastructure and Transport
– Traffic jam and Air pollution
• Local People
– Cultural and Social impact from tourism
• Stakeholder Engagement
– Lack of relationship with private sector
• Governance
Issues
Policies
• Positive Visitor Experiences
• Reduce Site Impacts
• Partnership with Industry
• Benefits for Local People
• Governance
• Stakeholder Engagement
Policies
Initiatives & Priority actions
• Visitor Flow Management
• Carrying capacity
• Industry Relationship and
Communication
• Visitor Orientation
Initiatives & Priority actions
• Develop codes of conduct
• Support authentic craft
certification and sales
• Tourism Industry Liaison
HOTLINE
• Transport System
Initiatives & Priority actions
• Construction of new roads to avoid circulation in the heritage site.
• Less vibrations
• Weigh control
• Restriction on large buses
• Less vibrations and congestion
2015 2016
• Repairing old roads [not enlarging]
• Adding bicycle lanes
• Revising vehicles flow
• Safety for visitors and drivers
• Enhance the value and cultural landscape of the temple.
• Revising vehicles flow
• Less congestion
One Way [7 30am – 11 30am]
• Implementation of the visiting flow in Ta Prohm Temple
– Sustainability for Temple
– Safety for visitors
– Less congestion
• Development and
implementation of carrying capacity in temple
– Sustainability for Temple
– Safety for visitors
– Visitor experience (noise, crowd)
• Establishment of APSARA – Private Sector Consultative Group on Tourism Development
• APSARA became an Affiliate Member of UNWTO & MOU
• Collaboration with Union of Youth Federations of Cambodia and local community
• Implementation of the Angkor Visitor Code of Conduct – Education tool for
visitors
– Less impact on Angkor
– Enhance the values of Angkor
DECEMBER 4th 2015
Thank you for your attention