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Angkor to host cultural tourism talks
All is set for the first international
conference on cultural tourism in the Asia-Pacific region, which will be held
here for three days from Saturday.
The conference, organised by the Ministry
of Tourism with the backing of the World Tourism Organisation, is to be opened
by the Prime Minster, Hun Sen.
More than 200 delegates from around the
world will examine trends in cultural tourism and discuss how to promote this
sub-sector in a sustainable and meaningful manner.
The Director General of WTO, Francesco
Frangialli said the region would continue as the second most popular destination
after China.
He said growth and receipts would also be
much greater than the world average, thus firming up its top position as a
tourist have. Frangialli said this would require careful preparation and
planning to develop the cultural aspect of tourism in member states in the
region to maintain or develop sustainability of attractions.
He pointed out that the region was the
most culturally diverse in the world.
Hun Sen, welcoming delegates, said tourism
was a significant foreign exchange earner for Cambodia.
The sector's potential would be developed
to provide the funds to repair the damage caused by conflicts, genocide and
isolation, especially for eradicating poverty.
The conference, he said, would enable
discussion on interrelationship between culture and tourism and their
longstanding and fruitful partnership.
This will be the first major international
tourism conference to be held in Cambodia in the post-conflict era.
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