New Sustainable Tourism Project Thriving

Tourism in Cambodia may well be flagging as a result of the economic crisis, but off the beaten track on the banks of the Mekong River there is a glimmer of light.

Two years ago, in an effort to bolster Cambodia?s tourism sector and take advantage of some of the country?s more remote and naturally unblemished locations, the Ministry of Tourism, the UN?s World Tourism Organization and the Netherlands Development Organization decided to cast their eyes beyond the hotspots of Siem Reap, Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville and innovate a new tourist hub: The Mekong River Discovery Trail.

Six months since the project officially launched, those working on the project say they have already seen positive results, as visitors to the area increase in number.

?You can kayak through forests, spend time on riverside beaches and visit ancient historical sites,? said Tommi Tenno, chief technical adviser of the Mekong River Discovery Trail Project. ?It?s like going back in time.?

The aim of the project is to help alleviate poverty in an area of Cambodia where vast numbers of people live below the poverty threshold of $1.25 per day by advising local communities to showcase their entrepreneurial skills and improve their levels of hospitality, ensuring they implement basic services like washrooms and mosquito nets for guests.

The stretch of the Mekong River on the discovery trail ?which runs between Kratie and Stung Treng ?is visited by a total of 20,000 international visitors a year, according to figures from the Ministry of Tourism, and until now has been largely under developed, often considered too remote for visitors to stay.

But Mr Tenno says that a combination of dolphin and bird watching, opportunities to experience a local way of life, adventure activities, as well as numerous eye-catching waterfalls pulls together the exact ingredients for the birth of a new tourist location in Cambodia.

?Primarily we are trying to get the tourists to stay one night longer. It?s a good start,? he said. ?We advise business projects, then the entrepreneur takes it over from here.?

Last week, the project piloted its so-called mentoring program, which will see hotel managers from Phnom Penh regularly visiting local communities to give them business tips. Since the Discovery Trial Project was launched early this year, 28 tour operators have so far shown interest in including the project?s itineraries within their packages, Mr Tenno said.

Thok Sokhon, director of international co-operation and Asean relations in the Ministry of Tourism, said there are still considerable amounts of promotional and marketing work to be done to bring tourists to the more remote areas along the Mekong River.

According to Mr Tenno, only 10 percent of visitors to the Discovery Trail currently stay the night outside of the provincial capitals.

Mr Sokhon also said that most of the inhabitants in the area live below the poverty threshold and the level of tourism amenities in the area is still rather rudimentary.

?The aim is to provide a tool to contribute to poverty alleviation to establish communities and capacity building in home stays and hospitality training,? he said, adding that the project is still in its first stage.

?We will look further into international donors to help the local communities build more lodges, an information center, more bridges and reinforce the trail,? he said.

Already, he added, the project has brought about a change in consumer behavior.

?Before, people only used to go to these areas on the weekend. Now they go during the week,? he said, adding that Stung Treng alone was seeing an average of between 20 and 30 people a day visiting the area compared to less than half that prior to the project.

Ho Vandy, co-chair of the government-private sector tourism working group, said that one of the positives stemming form the project would be a reduction in the amount of illegal fishing in side the habitat of endangered river dolphins as more jobs are established in tourism.

Although Mr Vandy said that the project would no doubt ?broaden the professional skills of local communities,? it still needs additional support from NGOs if development in the area is to really take off. 

Sourced = The Cambodia Daily