TOURISM Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco stressed on Monday that Cambodia is an important partner for tourist development in the Philippines, with potential areas of partnership agreements focusing on heritage protection, management and monitoring.
Cambodia is well-known for having three Unesco World Heritage Sites.
Last June 15, Frasco and Cambodia Tourism Minister Dr. Thong Khon held a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Commission meetings and discussions held in Cambodia’s capital to advance relations between the two countries.
“We commend the Kingdom of Cambodia for its great success, especially in terms of heritage conservation and management, and for the ability to, on the one hand, develop the tourism industry on the strength of your heritage sites and, on the other hand, ensure sustainability,” Frasco said.
“Consequently, the Philippines is very interested in collaborating with Cambodia to develop joint efforts and exchange of best practices on heritage conservation and management,” she added.
Frasco also emphasized the Philippines’ success in education tourism, notably its English as a Second Language (ESL) program.
“The Philippines has a very strong faculty for the English language, and we have a well-developed ESL program in the country,” Frasco said.
“This is something we would love to be able to work with you on, even as we are also interested in exploring how we may be able to work together in terms of medical tourism,” she added.
In 2016, the Philippines signed a memorandum of understanding for tourism cooperation with Cambodia.
Frasco formally expressed the Philippines’ support for Cambodia’s willingness to extend the agreement, which Minister Khon enthusiastically welcomed.
“As I understand, Cambodia is host to over 7,000 Filipinos, and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts for the warmth and the love with which you have received the Filipino people,” Frasco said.
“The same treatment awaits you and the people of Cambodia, whose tourist numbers we hope to be able to grow with the signing of our implementation program,” she concluded.