PHNOM PENH: Minister of Tourism Sok Soken gave a keynote address at the American Chamber of Commerce (AMCham ) event entitled “Where is Cambodia’s Tourism Industry Heading?” on September 26, where he proposed his ministry’s amended strategy to revitalize Cambodian tourism to its pre-Covid performance and beyond.

The minister proposed a new five-point strategy called BUILD which focuses on brand management, unique selling points (USPs) marketing, inbound design quality travel, leveraging the diversification of tourism products and developing competitive tourism sites. In short, the strategy aims to bring Cambodia’s tourism prestige up to international standards while also promoting the Kingdom’s unique qualities that make it a “must-see” travel destination.

To achieve the strategy, the ministry recognizes the need for many players to collaborate towards their vision and to that end it will employ what it calls “the 3 D’s”: designing institutional structure, digital transformation and developing capability.

The 3 D’s are meant to include a wide range of ministries, institutions, private businesses and other relevant stakeholders in sharing responsibility for developing Cambodia’s tourism sector through digitalization, streamlined guidelines and efficient training of human resources within the tourism sector.

In creating a Cambodia that is a competitive, sustainable and inclusive destination, the ministry’s ultimate goal is to “contribute to Cambodia’s prestige and resilience through positioning Cambodia as a leading global destination enshrined with rich diversity, boundless opportunities, and genuine compassion.”