The Ministry of Tourism used the TRAVEX 2023 exhibition at the ASEAN Tourism Forum (ATF) in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, from February 3-5 to promote travel to Cambodia and boost the sale of tour packages to Indonesians and others in the region.

Five companies from Cambodia also participated in the exhibition, including the Farm House Resort & Spa, Sokha Hotel & Resort, Satguru Travel & Tours, Younes Tourism and Al Barakah Travel & Tour.

For the exhibition, the ministry put up a booth displaying images from four tourist destinations in the Kingdom along with information on Kun L’bokator and the 2023 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games and ASEAN Para Games.

The booth was also visited by tourism ministers from Indonesia and the Philippines.

Catherine Mahamat Nussri, undersecretary of state for the tourism ministry who represented Cambodia at the exhibition, told reporters and industry players from other countries that the Kingdom is a safe, clean and green destination. She also showed videos promoting the upcoming Angkor Sangkran from April 14-16 in Siem Reap as well as the 32nd SEA Games from May 5-17.

Cambodia is also holding the Mekong Tourism Forum on April 24-28 in the coastal Preah Sihanouk province.

“We expect that through the TRAVEX 2023 exhibition event, Cambodia will receive more Indonesian and international tourists in 2023 and beyond,” said Mahamat Nussri.

Thourn Sinan, chairman of the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) Cambodia Chapter, said that in the field of tourism – in addition to Thailand and Vietnam – Indonesia is a popular destination and it could become a major player for Cambodia, though the Kingdom had not received many visitors from the largest Southeast Asian country.

Sinan said one of the reasons that few Indonesians visit Cambodia is that the two countries do not have regular direct flights, noting that the government has been pushing for a resumption of flights between the two nations.

“Last year I met with the Indonesian ambassador and he said there would be direct flights from Jakarta to Phnom Penh and Siem Reap, but so far I haven't seen them yet. This is a big obstacle in terms of exchanging guests between Indonesia and Cambodia,” said Sinan.