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

tmpangkor@gmail.com

Thank you for your attention