On 31 October 2017, the 2nd National Forum on “Chinese Market and China-Ready for Cambodia Tourism” was held in Phnom Penh. The forum was organized by Ministry of Tourism of Cambodia (MoT), supported by ASEAN-China Centre (ACC) and the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Cambodia. H.E. Dr. THONG Khon, Minister of MoT, and H.E. Mme. Yang Xiuping, Secretary-General of ACC, were invited to attend the opening ceremony and deliver remarks. More than 600 experts, line ministries, representatives of tourism and relevant industries from Cambodia and China attended the event.

In recent years, the tourism cooperation between Cambodia and China has been deepening and China has become the biggest tourism market for Cambodia. Cambodian government implemented “the white paper on China-Ready for Cambodia tourism” which was parallel to ASEAN Tourism Strategic Plan (ATSP) 2016-2025 as well as ASEAN Tourism Marketing Strategy (ATMS) aimed at providing warm welcome for approximately 2,000,000 Chinese tourists in 2020. The forum aimed to improve the quality of Cambodia tourism industry services so as to meet the need and fulfill the satisfaction of Chinese tourists as well as to strengthen the cooperation between Cambodia and China in tourism sector.

Encompassing “Promoting Cambodian Tourism Destination to Chinese Market”, “Tourism Products and Investments”, “China-Ready Accreditation System and China-Ready Accredited Global” and “Mechanism for Supporting the Implementation of White Paper China-Ready”, the experts from China and Cambodia delivered keynote speeches, experiences-sharing and case analysis, policy interpretations, and interacted with participants on the Chinese tourists’ characteristics, service level of Cambodian tourism promotion and tourism products development, which were most concerned by Cambodian tourism industry. The representatives from MoT, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and Immigration Bureau of Cambodia briefed on policies on expanding Chinese tourist market and promoting the convenience for Chinese tourists to Cambodia. The atmosphere was warm.

Mme. Zuo Wenxing, Political Counselor of the Embassy of People’s Republic of China in Cambodia, said in her speech that Cambodia is one of the important countries along the Belt and Road, and China and Cambodia are important partners to promote the Belt and Road Initiative. With the further implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative, the number of Chinese tourists to Cambodia continues to grow rapidly. China is willing to seize the Belt and Road Initiative as an opportunity to strengthen policy coordination with Cambodia, to create “the Belt and Road” tourism brand and related product lines, carry out jointly tourism promotion, strive to achieve the sharing of resources, and promote the further development of bilateral cooperation in tourism.

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