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Angkor Complex

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, organized by the Ministry of Tourism with the backing of the World Tourism Organization, 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.