The National Authority for Preah Vihear (NAPV) and the Pacific-Asia Travel Association Cambodia Chapter (PATACC) co-hosted a “Pilgrimage for Heritage” walk at the Preah Vihear temple site to encourage the restoration of tourism in Cambodia.

The event was held on December 4, with the participation of nearly 300 local and international guests from five countries: Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar, Spain and Indonesia.

“This programme started at 6:30am, with the participants walking on foot from the foot of Preah Vihear Temple to Ko Borak IV at a distance of 7km,” it said.

NAPV director-general Kong Puthika said that this was the first event that the NAPV and relevant institutions had held to promote tourism at the compound of the Preah Vihear Temple.

“This was a fitness and sporting tourist event that we held for the first time at our Preah Vihear Temple. We walked for heritage. We walked for tourism. We walked for the environment and we walked for friendship between our nations. We all participated in the walk together,” he said.

He continued that in the first 11 months of this year, Preah Vihear Temple had received nearly 100,000 domestic tourists and an estimated 2,000 international tourists.

Puthika expected that the event will promote the site to others and attract more tourists to visit the remote location after the Covid-19 situation improved.

“I appeal to our people, including local and international tourists, to visit Preah Vihear Temple, which is unique compared to other temples in our country. This temple was built on Dangrek Mountain and the temple also symbolises the solidarity of Cambodians,” he said.

Besides Preah Vihear Temple, Puthika said that tourists could visit many other tourist sites in that region such as the Tmatbouy Ecotourism Community in a protected area, the Phnom Tbeng Natural Heritage Park and Koh Ker temple.