Cambodia Travel Mart to debut in August

CAMBODIA will be inaugurating Cambodia Travel Mart, a B2B and B2C travel tradeshow, later this year, featuring products from South-east Asia, Japan, China and South Korea.

This is part of a larger plan to develop Cambodia's leisure and MICE markets and achieve 7.5 million arrivals by 2020, up from 4.8 million in 2015.

The event will also be a step towards greater inclusivity for Cambodia’s operators as it creates an opportunity for smaller travel companies to participate in a tradeshow.

Chaleune Warinthrasak, vice minister of the Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism of Cambodia, said: “The tourism industry in Cambodia is growing, but there are many who cannot afford to participate in international events like ASEAN Tourism Forum (ATF).”

Warinhtrasak added: “In the region, we have the International Travel Expo (ITE) in Ho Chi Minh City, Thailand Travel Mart (TTM) in Thailand, Malaysian Association of Tour & Travel Agents (MATTA) Fair in Malaysia and we participate in all of those. So, we would like to have a (similar) show that will include our neighbours’ participation.”

About 200 international buyers and 200 sellers are expected to participate in the event, with up to 40 per cent of the group expected to come from Cambodia.

Cambodia Travel Mart will be held in Siem Reap from August 19 to 21, 2016.