CAMBODIAN TOURISM MINISTER DR. THONG KHON NOMINATED MEMBER OF EUROPEAN TOURISM ACADEMY. A MOMENT OF NATIONAL PRIDE!

Cambodia’s Minister of Tourism H.E. Thong Khon became a member of the European Tourism Academy this morning.

The designation ceremony was held in Phnom Penh under the presidency of Deputy Prime Minister H.E. Hor Namhong, representative of Prime Minster Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo Hun Sen, and visiting H.E. Prof. Dr. Anton Caragea, President of the European Council on Tourism and Trade.

Addressing to the function, H.E. Hor Namhong expressed his strong belief that the cooperation between the Cambodian Ministry of Tourism and the European Council on Tourism and Trade will transform Cambodia into a world-class tourist destination.

He also laid stress on the significance of tourism sector in the socio-economic development of Cambodia through job creation, direct income augmentation and so on.

According to Tourism Minister H.E. Thong Khon, tourism has been regarded by the Royal Government of Cambodia as “Green Gold”. Last year, 5.6 million foreign tourists visited the Kingdom, a year-on-year increase of 11.8 percent, generating some US$3.63 billion as national income and over 620,000 direct jobs.

For the first five months of this year, Cambodia attracted 2.6 million foreign visitors, up 13.5 percent compared with the same period last year. The figure is expected to rise to about 6.2 million by the end of this year and to 7 million in 2020, generating about US$5 billion income and creating some 1 million direct jobs.

By 2030, the country looks forward to hosting 15 million international tourists bringing about an estimated income of US$10 billion for the country and two million direct jobs for the locals.

For local tourists, the number rose to more than 10.8 million in 2017 with an annual increase of 4-5 percent on average. By the end of 2018, over 11 million Cambodians are expected to travel to different tourist destinations in the country and the figure would grow to 19 million in 2025.