Cambodia is blessed by Mother Nature. The development of eco-tourism in the Kingdom has grabbed the eyeballs of international tourists worldwide. Buoyed by its huge success, the Royal Government wants to expand community-based tourism. Already, Cambodia has over 120 tourism communities, and the number is growing, thanks to Prime Minister Hun Manet’s visit to the breathtaking Knong Psar and Knong Sampov tourist areas in Phnom Kravanh National Park, in Kampong Speu province, last month. He, along with the Tourism Minister, stationed in the national park for a day, and interacted with locals to see how it can be developed as a model eco-tourism destination. The beauty of community-based tourism is that it is wholly managed by the local initiatives, offering experiences reflecting their culture and tradition. They offer cultural tours, homestays, traditional crafts, nature hikes, and showcase local heritage, and much more. In this fast-paced world, who wouldn’t like to spend a few days or weeks in Nature?
In addition to the existing world-class tourist destinations in the Kingdom, the Royal Government of Cambodia, of late, has turned its thrust to community-based tourism.
As the name suggests, community-based tourism (CBT) involves local communities in the planning, management, and development of the tourism sector. The main goal of CBT is to provide economic, social, and environmental benefits to the community while preserving local culture and natural resources. It also creates job opportunities, boosts income both directly and indirectly, promotes local exports, supports economic growth, increases national income, and contributes to cultural preservation while effectively and responsibly protecting the environment and natural resources.
Locals in over 120 tourism communities in Cambodia have played a critical role in attracting both domestic and international visitors. They manage and run tourism initiatives, often offering experiences reflecting their culture and tradition. In the course of doing so, cultural tours, homestays, traditional crafts, nature hikes, and showcasing local heritage have become popular among international tourists.
Addressing the 9th River Festival (March 21-23), under the theme ‘The Value of Rivers: Linking Culture and Natural Tourism’ in Takeo province, Prime Minister Hun Manet said that over the past decade, Cambodia’s tourism sector has grown into a source of national pride, significantly promoting domestic products.
He said that the joint development of eco-tourism and local tourism development is very important in helping to improve the livelihoods of people in the community.
Mr Hun Manet asked all ministries, institutions, and provincial and capital administrations to join hands to develop eco-tourism and local tourism to improve the livelihoods of people in the community. “We need to preserve existing potential and maintain the natural environment to enhance the community’s appeal, while also organising and providing complementary infrastructure along with community capacity-building initiatives,” he said.
Further, the Prime Minister stated that the government has worked hard to create many new attractive tourism events and products, and to further promote the value of Cambodian culture and identity, such as the River Festival, Angkor Sangkranta, and walk streets to attract tourists and increase income for people and local businesses.
“Please do not, for personal or short-term gain, be willing to do inappropriate things to tourists that will affect confidence in the entire tourism ecosystem. This is the meaning of the phrase “tourism for all, all for tourism,” said Mr Hun Manet.
The Premier emphasised that tourism has both large and small potential, especially the potential that connects with local communities. This is a good model that must be carefully considered to see what benefits it can bring to local people.
“If development in the place and bringing tourists through the tourism system network, plus various tourism packages, can reach local products operated by the community, that is the best thing to do.”
Some key aspects of community-based tourism include local involvement, economic benefits, cultural and environmental preservation and mutual respect and education.
“Authorities should provide necessary services and infrastructure, while also assisting communities with sanitation, waste management, and marketing to ensure long-term sustainability,” the Premier said.
Last month, Prime Minister Hun Manet has directed the Minister of Tourism Huot Hak to work closely with the Ministry of Environment, the provincial authorities, tourism operators, and local communities to “further promote nature tourism in the region and enhance the local community’s ability to provide tourism services, ultimately improving the living standards of the people in the area.”
This comes after Mr Hun Manet spent a day in Knong Psar and Knong Sampov tourist areas in Phnom Kravanh National Park, in Kampong Speu province.
Economic Benefits
Community-based tourism has the potential to create a sustainable and equitable flow of economic benefits to local communities, allowing them to thrive economically while preserving their environment and culture.
The increased income from tourism helps communities become more self-reliant, resilient, and empowered.
Community-based tourism provides several key economic benefits to local communities, including job creation, diversification of income sources, support for local businesses, increased local investment, revenue generation, economic stability, skills development, cultural and ecotourism products, an increase in local tax revenue and encouraging sustainable development.
Chuk Chumnor, Director General of Tourism Department and International Cooperation and Spokesman for Ministry of Tourism (MoT), told Khmer Times that community-based tourism empowers local communities to manage tourism growth in a way that enhances their well-being, focusing on sustainable socio-economic and environmental development.
Additionally, the community involves activities where local communities have the right to own, operate, manage, or coordinate tourism initiatives at the community level. This contributes to the well-being of the community by supporting livelihoods and preserving social, cultural, traditional, and natural values.
“The essence of developing community tourism is empowering communities to make decisions in their operations while significantly contributing to the conservation of their local resources, including both cultural and natural resources,” said Chumnor.
Endorsing the initiatives promoted by Prime Minister Hun Manet to encourage the development of local tourism communities, Chhay Sivlin, President of the Cambodia Association of Travel Agents (CATA), said it is an effective way to reduce poverty and foster economic growth in rural areas. Tourists with an interest in nature tourism strongly support these community-based tourism efforts.
“Establishing local tourism communities benefits the residents by providing job opportunities that lead to good careers. Rather than engaging in activities like mushroom picking, deforestation, or hunting animals in the forest, people can now work as animal guardians and help preserve trees for tourists to enjoy,” she emphasised.
Sivlin added that in addition, local residents can also become tourist transporters, food cooking, operators of small hotels or bungalows, and creators of souvenirs and agricultural products that provide them with opportunities to work and earn income from hospitality services to tourists.
The income generated through community tourism can significantly improve livelihoods. It also fosters a mindset of preserving natural resources and the environment in the area where they live, she said.
“Tour operators strongly support the development of tourism communities in all areas that are tourist attractions. We understand that the tourists attracted through our tour packages are very interested in visiting these communities,” Sivlin added.
“Therefore, we need to further develop activities within these tourism communities to expand this tour chain. Without a tourism community, we cannot create long-term plans because the visit would only focus on seeing temples or historical sites before ending. However, with a tourism community, we can offer tourists the opportunity to stay longer, allowing them to immerse themselves in local culture or experience the daily lives of the people in the area.”
Sivlin expressed that for tourists who stay in a tourism community, they always leave positive feedback for tour operators. They are satisfied and form meaningful connections with the people in the community.
Socio-economic researcher, Chey Tech, said that community-based tourism is a vital part of the tourism sector’s development, and tourism itself is one of the most important sectors within Cambodia’s service industry. It is one of the three key sectors driving the Cambodian economy, alongside industry and agriculture.
Tech showed support for the establishment of community-based tourism because it offers numerous benefits to both the nation and its people, including environmental conservation, natural tourism, biodiversity preservation, cultural heritage protection, community development, and the creation of jobs that improve the livelihoods and economy of local communities.
“Therefore, the development of community-based tourism contributes to attracting both domestic and international tourists. This, in turn, helps enhance the livelihoods of citizens by creating jobs and preserving natural resources, culture, and more,” he added.
Chan Soch (25), a member of the Tangyou Community Protected Area (TYCPA) in Preah Vihear province, said that since the TYCPA was established in 2019, young people like himself find life more meaningful by supporting or being involved in community services.
“Moreover, besides earning an income, we feel our lives have become more meaningful. We are not wasting money on something that is not helpful to the community, for instance, alcohol drinking,” he said.
He hoped that more tourists would visit the area, and his community members wouldn’t have to migrate to other places to work for a living.
Strengthening Community
Regarding support for community-based tourism, Tech emphasised that the Royal Government, the Ministry of Tourism, and relevant parties, including the private sectors, should collaborate to invest further in its development, particularly in infrastructure and educating local communities about the benefits of environmental, cultural, and tourism preservation for sustainable tourism.
He added that efforts must be made to organise infrastructure, promote community tourism, put up billboards, prepare Google maps for outreach and bond within communities. Strengthening local hospitality, food services, and accommodation, such as homestays, is essential. This can be achieved through providing resources, knowledge, and infrastructure.
Sivlin said that the Ministry of Tourism, the Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Economy and Finance have supported tourism communities to thrive.
The Tourism Ministry must guide tourism communities by providing adequate training to make them understand hospitality, cleanliness, good hygiene in providing accommodation services, food services, and teaching them how to receive guests.
The Ministry of Economy and Finance has to support tourism communities because they need additional capital to expand their services. We also have to consider the safety of tourists, because if we still use traditional facilities that are not safe for guests, such as old vehicles that are difficult to transport them across mountains, forests, water, or bridges, etc, said Sivlin, adding, “If they are not strong or have no protection, it will affect the safety of guests, which will put them at risk.”
The CATA president went on to add that local authorities also play an important role in taking care of the tourist community in protecting the security of tourists. The authorities must also provide necessary information related to the general situation of the village, district or locality.
She said that not only that, the local authorities can also guide other citizens living in the village to understand how to treat tourists, even though they are not part of the tourist community.
When visitors come, they observe everything.
“Citizens play the role of guides, as well as hosts with their gestures, respect, smiles, all of which are obligations and tasks under the control of local authorities. So, local authorities are the ones who understand best how to welcome tourists,” Sivlin stressed.
Chumnor explained that the Ministry of Tourism has carefully considered how to promote the development of the tourism sector as a whole, as well as the specific community-based tourism sub-sector.
He added that the Minister of Tourism has outlined six pillars of cooperation, including working with national ministries and institutions, provincial and municipal administrations, both domestic and international private sectors, embassies, international partners, media outlets, and content creators, as well as local citizens and tourists.
“The ministry plans to promote and create new additional community-based tourism across the country and strengthen the quality of services in existing communities. This includes helping communities showcase their potential, providing training in skills of tourism, including hospitality, preparing homestays, community management, and local entrepreneurship,” Chumnor underlined.
The ministry, through the National Committee for the Management and Development of Tourism and Ecotourism Communities (chaired by the Minister of Tourism Huot Hak, the Minister of Environment (MoE) Eang Sophalleth, as Permanent Vice Chairman and the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) Dith Tina, as Vice Chairman), is working diligently to integrate tourism and ecotourism into communities.
The goal is to create more tourism products, ensure product quality, and encourage community participation in development. As direct beneficiaries, the people in these communities play a key role in improving their lives, as the primary aim of community-based tourism is to enhance the quality of life for local citizens.
Community-based tourism can play a significant role in boosting the national economy in various ways that benefit both local communities and the economy as a whole.
The article firstly published on Khmer Times