Ministry of Education and Training Viet Nam National Economics University By H.E. Thong Khon A dissertation submitted to the National Economics University in fulfillment of requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Tourism Management August, 2011 The development of Ecotourism in Cambodia Summary 2 Chapter I Introduction 1.1 Background Cambodia is located in the heart of Southeast Asia and is laid on a rich tropical region. It captivates images of a glorious and mysterious past with an abundance of cultural, historical, natural heritages and patrimonies dating back thousands of years. In abundance with those resources, this country has been classified as a highly-potential country with competitive advantages for tourism development. The country actually has full political stability and safety, and it has been recognized as a tourist destination since 1990’s. Since then, tourism development has been on the upsurge, gradually growing throughout major priority regions, particularly in the country’s four priority regions 1 . Beside the legendary Angkor Wat, Cambodia has a wealth of tourist attractions to offer the visitors including the Phnom Penh Capital City on the banks of the Mekong River with its cultural assets, the coastal region with its beaches ‘’Cambodia Bay is the member of the most beautiful bays in the world club’’, forests and mangroves, and the northeastern part of the country. Actually, tourism destinations are being diversified away from cultural tourism sites (Angkor Wat and its surroundings) into the southern coastal zone and the northeastern forest region, with a focus on ecotourism, where environmental protection of the natural resource bases become increasingly important. Talking about Ecotourism, some definitions identify ecotourism solely as a form of tourism that has a natural or exotic area as the destination. Other definitions are more elaborate, and include conservation and the support of local communities in the planning or implementation of projects. Since a consistently used definition does not exist, a unique working definition is adopted by drawing upon recommendation by the Cambodian experiences, and incorporating fundamental elements occurring within ecotourism definitions worldwide. These elements require that ecotourism: involve the natural and environmental; allow for ecological and cultural sustainability; provide for education and interpretation; and generate local and regional benefits. Based on the Québec declaration on Ecotourism in 2002 and the Oslo Statement on Ecotourism in 2007, a working definition of ecotourism can be proposed to use in our dissertation: Ecotourism (known as ecological + tourism) “involves responsible travel to ecological destinations that contributes to the environment conservation and the well-being of local people improvement.” (Ref. Author) Ecotourism development in natural areas is rationally seen and considered as a part of community-based natural resource management and conservation; and long-term development programs in such areas. Thus, the introduction of ecotourism is seen as the efficient way to alleviate environmental problems, to foster democratic society, to improve natural resource management and conservation, and to reduce poverty in rural communities. For the RGC, under the brilliant leadership of Samdach Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo Hun Sen, economic growth is a priority, while conservation is its commitment. The commitment of the RGC shows a positive indicator which stimulates an interest of relevant stakeholders: the civil society, international communities and development partners to use ecotourism as one of the 1 Siem Reap, Phnom Penh and surrounding areas, the coastal zone (Kampot, Kep, Sihanouk Ville, Koh Kong), and the northeastern part of the country (The Ministry of Tourism of Cambodia) 3 integrated development tools in park areas and biosphere reserves and other fragile rural destinations of strong human-nature relationship. Specifically, in Cambodia, one of the richest regions in terms of biodiversity and natural resources is the Peam Krosaop mangrove forest, which is adjoined by Koh Kong Province; and the area serves as a base to visit the Cardamom- Protecting Forest which is a hotspot supporting a wide variety of flora and fauna species, classified as 10 ten biodiversity hotspots of the world including the Asian elephant, the Indochinese tiger and the Siamese crocodile. It’s also important to be noted that Samdach Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo Hun Sen, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia said, in his Speech in 2003, Kompong Cham Province, “When tourists want to go to visit temples, they should go to Angkor and when they want to visit tropical forests they should go to the Cardamoms”. Actually Wildlife Alliance Organization begins working in Chi Phat Commune in the heart of the Southern Cardamoms to implement Community-Based Ecotourism (CBET) as a way of conserving and developing a region of exceptional natural and cultural significance. Within this framework, ecotourism has become a promising tool for promoting natural resource’s objectives for providing incentives to maintain ecosystem integrity, biodiversity 2 , and for improving the livelihoods of local communities dependent upon natural resources. However, like other developing countries, the challenges occurring in ecotourism or CBET projects in Cambodia are noticeably: communication among stakeholders; access to development resources; local support and participation; local capabilities to maintain ecotourism management and development; and power and control over natural resources. Though the researcher doubts how ecotourism can work on a local development process in Cambodia’s protected areas, where social system and conservation course play a crucial role in development policies, resource access and consumption. Therefore, it is necessary to understand how ecotourism is useful for conservation and development in Cambodia. These important issues make it necessary to do research on the development of ecotourism in Cambodia, and this is a reason why this topic is chosen for my Ph. D. dissertation. 1.2 Research Objectives and Questions: The main objectives of the study is to evaluate the real situation of ecotourism development mostly ‘‘based on community’’, at present, which was integrated in Development, Conservation, and Poverty Alleviation Strategies in Cambodia. Our study is based on the interrelation between Local Community - Tourism- Nature resource or Protected Area (PA). Therefore, our research aims to analyze the development of ecotourism in Peam Krasop and Chi Phat by exploring guiding principles for stakeholders concerned as well as proper mechanisms to use ecotourism in an effective and sustainable manner. A number of questions could be raised and resolved in our study as below: - What is the current ecotourism development process in Cambodia? - What mechanism should be used to better achieve ecotourism goals in a sustainable and responsible manner in Cambodia? And how to implement it? 2 Biodiversity refers to various organisms in the same or different species and living organisms of all levels and sources, including land, marine and fresh water ecosystem, and the ecological relationship in which these ecosystems exist (RGC, Protected Area Law et al., 2006, p. 16). 4 The analysis of these questions will produce recommendations which will serve as a foundation for the management, development and planning of ecotourism projects in Cambodia. 1.3 Methodology and Data Sources: To answer all the above questions, it requires a participatory ecotourism development approach for ecotourism developers and researchers to investigate the potentials, challenges and effectiveness in using ecotourism as a tool for conservation and community development in the complex rural context. Theoretically and methodologically, this approach is explicit for ecotourism development which previous studies failed to throw a light on factors causing for success or failures of ecotourism projects. In fact, ecotourism and natural environment conservation success in national areas are closely linked to the quality of relationships maintained between tourists, local communities and natural areas (protected areas). The approach used in this case study research is based on an analytical framework developed by Ross and Wall (1999). This framework allows us to evaluate the sustainability status of tourism development projects by analyzing the interrelation between Local Community- Tourism-Natural Resources or Protected Area (PA). 1.4 Dissertation organization This dissertation is organized into different chapters as follows. It begins in Chapter 2 with the development of concepts of sustainable tourism or alternative tourism, which is being used to promote community development and conservation in natural areas. Chapter 3 starts with an explanation of the overview of the Cambodian economy, tourism and ecotourism in Cambodia. Interestingly, we make an SWOT analysis for ecotourism development in Cambodia based on the current situation. Chapter 4 focuses on the case study of Ecotourism in Peam Krasop and Chi Phat CBET development. Chapter 5 Based on our analysis of case study, chapter 5 (Conclusion and Recommendation) suggests what can be done at the policy and operational levels to move ecotourism development in Cambodia in the direction of sustainable and responsible approaches and showcase the research limitations for further studies. Chapter II Literature review: Theoretical and Practical Framework 2.1 Theoretical framework The rise of term “ecotourism” has been relatively rapid. In 1980 the term did not exist and now, 30 years on, this Encyclopedia represents the thinking of many different authors from around the world on the topic. For example, Orams (1995) and Hvenegaars (1994) write that the term can traced back only to the late 1980s, while others (Higgins 1996) suggest that it can be traced to the late 1970s through the work of Miller on eco-development (1989). A body of literature dealing with tourism typologies gives grater attention to particular variations in term of tourism classifications, often with a particular tourism from being placed in 3 or more categories. MieckzKowski (1995) does identify “alternative tourism (AT)” as one of two broad categories along a spectrum of tourism types. So, we propose a classification of tourism development in two categories: mass tourism (MT) and alternative tourism (AT). Figure: Tourism classification 5 (MT) may be said to be predominantly unsustainable. On the other hand, most forms of AT are sustainable in nature. (AT) can be broadly defined as forms of tourism that set out to be consistent with natural, social and community values and which allow both hosts and guests to enjoy positive and worthwhile interaction and shared experiences. (AT) comprises of socio-cultural tourism and nature-based tourism. 2.1.2 Principles of Ecotourism For our research, upon the various principles of ecotourism cited by TIES and the Québec Declaration and on our working definition, we group the principles of ecotourism into six criteria for ecotourism: 1) Primary focus on Natural Environment as the attraction 2) Minimizes negative Impact 3) Builds environmental and cultural awareness 4) Promotes conservation 5) Provides financial benefits for local people 6/ Encourage community empowerment through participations. 2.1.3 The Politics of Ecotourism In this context, the need to have specific legal frameworks and policies to ecotourism seem to be important to regulate the ecotourism activity to ensure its positive impacts. For that, each TOURISM MASS TOURISM ALTERNATIVE TOURISM Unsustainable practice Sustainable practice Socio-cultural tourism Nature based tourism NBT Non Consumptive NBT Agro-tourism Cultural tourism Consumptive NBT Ecotourism (Passive) Adventure tourism (Active) Source : - Trevor S. (2005) - Fennell D. A. (1999), « Ecotourism: an Introduction» 6 government should develop his own ecotourism strategy. According to UNWTO, the sustainable ecotourism development is based on the integrated elements of ecological, economic and socio- cultural sustainability (UNWTO, 2001, 2003). For Weaver (2001) and Diamantis (2004), Ecotourism is largely based on the conservation of biodiversity, mainly in protected areas, together with environmental education and minimizing the impacts of tourism in natural areas. Thus, Ecotourism directly benefits the economic development and political empowerment of local communities, and foster respect for different culture and for human rights, (Honey, 1999). The ecotourism development strategy must be based on conservation of resources and empowerment of local people through direct benefits and control over ecotourism activities (local empowerment which need technical support, ecotourism training and capacity building). Therefore, there is an agreement in the fact that governmental commitment to conservation and ecotourism development is one of the most important factors for operational success. Since the natural environment is the primary attraction in many ecotourism destinations, it is imperative that public, private, people and partnership cooperate in regulating and developing the destination. For example, a wider recognition of standards for responsible ecotourism must be adopted by governments and such standards should govern the development of ecotourism. 2.2 Trends in Global Ecotourism: Some Insightful Examples of Ecotourism: The following section will describe with examples a few ecotourism projects from various parts of the world, especially in Asia. Although all of them are well known, all of them are not necessarily perfect examples of ecotourism. So, to support the ecotourism development, the key management issues to be addressed include government supports, sustainable use of local resources, participation of stakeholders in benefit sharing, strengthening of local institutions, linkages with regional and national levels, education and training. 2-2-1 Government support: A characteristic of community-based tourism is that it requires a multi-institutional support structures in order to success and sustains. Since community based ecotourism is people oriented approach, working towards a fair benefit sharing and uplifting poverty will encourage the government and the community to conserve their natural and cultural resources. As a result it always has positive response from the government. Government agencies usually act as facilitator, coordinator or advisory agency to the local community by establishing local institutions and ecotourism developer and helping the institutions in term of human resources development, capacity building and legal framework. 2-2-2 Participation of tourism development stakeholders: Even though ecotourism businesses are located in natural areas, they still require much of the same infrastructure as other businesses to deliver quality experiences for their clients. Indeed, the successful implementation of ecotourism depends on the development of stable infrastructure. This increases the scope for wider participation, including the participation of the informal sector. Due to its direct and indirect relationship with other sectors, tourism contributes to ‘‘internally generated development’’ by stimulating the establishment of other economic activities such as industries, services and so on. 7 Through contacts with the tourists, members learn new knowledge and experiences, which are quite impossible without tourism activities. Community members with entrepreneurship ability may establish business contacts through tour operators, agents or the tourist themselves in order to start a new business. While, having visitors at their front doors, tourism offer opportunities to the community member especially housewives to participate in the economic activities. It can be pursued through various means such as bed and breakfast, cultural show, souvenir selling, restaurants, general merchant etc et their own home. Moreover, various United Nations agencies such as World Bank, IFC, UNESCO, UNDP and UNEP have also been involved in sustainable tourism and ecotourism for a long time. The 1992 Earth Summit’s action plan for the environment, Agenda 21, reinforced UNEP’s mission of working with the tourism industry to promote sustainability. UNEP has called on the tourism industry to be proactive through self-regulation, by adopting codes of conduct and best practices. UNEP has assisted the tourism industry by conducting training sessions for hospitality and tourism business leaders and tourism business leaders on developing environmental standards, using low- impact technologies, and use of ecolabels to certify sound ecotourism practices. 2-2-3 Fair benefit sharing: The indirect beneficiaries of ecotourism would be the wider community as recipients of community development projects funded by the tourism revenues. In Zambia for example, a Wildlife Conservation Revolving Fund was established to grant local chiefs 40% of the revenue earned from the sale of hunting licenses. This revenue can be used for community projects and has encouraged tribal leaders to become active in anti-poaching activities. In the case of Bromo- Tengger-Semeru, the Ngadisari village committee funded three young villagers annually to attend a tourism-training course. The Conservation Development Committee of Ghalekharka-Sikles Area, Nepal, spend 15% of the tourism revenue for nature conservation, 35% for repair and maintenance of tourism facilities and 50% for community development. In Karen village of Huay Hee of Mae Hong Son town in Thailand, the income from the home stay program, hosts and guides keep 80% of the money paid for their services, while 20% goes into a village fund (15% go to CBST Group Fund and 5% go to village fund). However, lack of organization and maagement of ecotourism activity has led to negative impacts on wildlife. The majority of revenue stays in the provincial capital. Three lodges concentrated in one village, all owned by reserve guards, provide the only real benefit to any of the many villages which surround the reserve. Reserve guards act as guides- local villagers also act as guides if there are no guards available. Some villagers receive income by renting boats to visitors. Therefore, the only local people receiving any regular benefits are reserve guards. The reserve retains virtually none of the profits from tourism, 2% of the total trip cost is collected by the reserve administration, which is returned to the North Sulawesi Government. This funding is inadequate to control illegal hunting, which has reduced the macaque population in the reserve by 75% in the past 15 years. Even through guards benefit from the extra-money they receive from ecotourists for providing guide services, this has not been a sufficient incentive to control hunting; indeed, time spent on guiding visitors is time away from protection duties. 2-2-4 Sustainable use of local resource: Ecotourism is highly dependent upon natural capital (e.g. wildlife, scenery) and culture. These are assets that own and managed by all community members including the poor, individually 8 or through communal properties, even if they have no financial resources. It creates awareness; self esteem and proud among the community as a whole, as its resources are increasing in value, priceless and become the sole reasons for the visitors to visit their village. This may trigger motivation to the community members to be more responsible and caring towards their resources. 2-2-5 Ecotourism and the involvement of local community: strengthening local institutions Normally, livelihoods based on activities such as agriculture, cattle farming, hunting, fishing, wood collection, timber harvesting and mineral extraction require substantial amounts of natural resources (water, trees, mineral and, most of all, land and soil) to sustain large populations. But, implementation and enforcement of use restrictions may foster confusion and resentment on the part of local people accustomed to using such lands and resources. In such situations, local people may become opponents of tourism and undermine its operation. Such obstacles to the success of ecotourism can often be countered by involving local people in planning and management processes, whereby they have some control over and agreed-upon access to the resources they require (local empowerment). In this case, the involvement of local people to ecotourism development relate to two levels: 1- Ecotourism needs to be incorporated into the social and economic life of the community. This involvement should be in a direct form, such as share of the revenue generated, creation of improved social welfare, education, infrastructure, and most importantly, employment. 2 - Furthermore, the involvement of local people can partly come in the form of empowerment: the community is given the responsibility to make decisions or, at least, to be part of decision (control in development and implementation of ecotourism venture). There are fives areas where local people can help to bring about ecotourism activities, Brandon, (1993): information gathering, consultation, decision making, initiating action and Evaluation. 2-2-6 Linkages with regional and national levels Linkages between local entrepreneur with regional, national and even international are the most important platform for long-term success of community based ecotourism businesses in a given destination. Together with the initial capital investment, foreign (not necessarily overseas) companies bring with them the advantage of operational expertise, market contacts and the ‘’image’’. The combinations of these factors provide the input to the tourism sector which is unlikely to be available from the local community. The local community usually lack of the ability to link directly to the national and international markets which become the main reason why the benefits of ecotourism do not dissipate down to the community level. The middlemen whom are able to coordinate the ecotourism activities between the community and the tourist stand greatly to gain economically. Therefore, a partnership between local community and the middlemen or the tour operators is a vital component for a successful community based ecotourism project. 2-2-7 How to mitigate negative impact of Ecotourism? Ecotourism is frequently considered as the ideal form of tourism, allowing for economic growth and development while protecting the environment upon which it is based. However, 9 numerous examples of ecotourism activities worldwide show that this is not always the case. The impacts of ecotourism on society and the environment can be positive and negative. For this reason, the regulatory frameworks and systems should ensure that products that are developed and marketed as ecotourism are beneficial and not harmful to environments and communities. a- Regulation of Ecotourism: In general, it is recognized that a variety of regulations need to be developed such as codes of conduct, ecotourism guidelines, ecotourism certification and so on, together with legal regulations that help reduce negative impacts. Actually, in attempts to raise the consistency of ecotourism experiences, many destinations have chosen to adopt a set of ecotourism certification 3 . In continents where ecotourism is well developed, one of the main issues that are discussed is certification. However, such certification program not only helps to promote the delivery of high quality and sustainable ecotourism experiences, but provides consumers and authorities with a basis for discriminating between legitimate and unscrupulous operators (Allock et al. 1994). Based on voluntary initiatives, ecotourism certification involves setting criteria for measuring the quality as well as social and environmental impacts of tourism, carrying out audits, awarding eco-labels, and building consumer and industry demand for such certification programs. The use of certification standards for labeling various products is not a new concept. “Blue Angel 4 ”, Germany’s ecolabeling program established in 1977, was the first environment seal of approval for various categories of products. Since then, the use of eco- labels has expanded through the world. Some ecolabel schemes, such as Green Globe 21, define their accreditation criteria purely in terms of continuous improvement in major areas such as energy and water consumption, etc, and Costa Rica Certification in Sustainable Tourism program and Nature and Ecotourism Accreditation Program (NEAP) in Australia. b- Ecotourism Guidelines There have been strong moves over the last decade, to introduce more sustainable forms of tourism and to demonstrate to visitors this sense of responsibility. This has been found among countries, destination regions, cities, hospitality chains, groups of separate businesses and individual businesses. Although few destinations or enterprises have developed comprehensive ecotourism policies or ecotourism certification, a number of attempts have been made to develop a more general set of ecotourism ‘guideline’, codes of conduct, and or codes of ethics. Guideline, manuals, and other technical assistance for enterprises wishing to improve environmental management performance are another important adjunct to schemes. In general, even though, programs such as these have no teeth but allow an organization to claim greater sensitivity and responsibility (Stoesser 2004), but to ensure the sustainability and 3 Certification is the process by which third-party assessment is undertaken, written assurance is given that the product, process, service or management system conforms to the standard. 4 Blue Angel program is a cooperative effort among several independent organizations, governmental bodies and the public. The entities develop a set of criteria that promote environmental soundness in various products. An applicant may pay a fee and have his product tested to determine whether it meets these criteria. If the applicant meets the criteria, it may display the seal of approval. 10 effectiveness, it is imperative that certification programs (ecolabel) must be developed in conjunction with ecotourism guideline. Chapter III An overview of Cambodian Economy, Tourism and Ecotourism in Cambodia 3.1 Overview on Cambodian Economy History shows us that Cambodia has come through prosperity and difficult periods along with its up-and-down national economy. In this sense, there is a particular manner to understand Cambodia properly. Normally the country is known for its great Angkor history and the so-called Pol Pot regime. Nevertheless, during the last decade (after the liberation day of 7 Janaury of 1979), under the brilliant leadership of Samdach Hun Sen, Prime Minister, we are up to a new bright future of the country with significant development in all areas. Talking about growth, Cambodia’s economy is among the fastest growing in the world recently hitting the magic 10%-a-year target during the last few years. Cambodia has achieved a decade of sustainable strong economic growth and sound macroeconomic management. These remarkable achievements in economic development and poverty reduction were accomplished through responsible macroeconomic management and a steady program of reforms by government, together with the dynamism of the private sector and the productivity and effort of Cambodian people. Most of this is attributed to the substantial growth in industry and then services. Industrial growth was driven by the considerable growth of garments and construction. Services sector growth is due to tourism. Recently, in his address at the closing of tourism stocktaking conference in 2008 and 1st semester of 2009; and the direction setting for 2nd semester of 2009 and 2010, Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo HUN SEN, the Prime Minister of the Royal Government of Cambodia, mentioned that Tourism has been a major growth pillar for Cambodia for years. It’s clear that tourism is a major part in service platform of the country’s economy. Both industry and services have made considerable contributions to GDP growth. We can say that the four main pillars of the country’s economic growth driving forces are agriculture, garment, tourism and construction. 3.2 Tourism sector in Cambodia: “the new destination” The tourism sector has been an important and very dynamic engine of growth and generator of foreign exchange revenues since mid-1990s. International arrivals have increased from a very low number in the mid-1990s. In 1994 when tourism data was first recorded, Cambodia received 176 617 international tourists. In 2010, Cambodia received 2 508 289 international visitors - an increase of 16.4 percent. It is worthwhile to note that in the past decade Cambodia witnessed two digit growth rates, making it one of the country’s strongest growth sectors. Nowadays, Cambodia is still doing better than the Asia and the Pacific region in general where the growth in international arrivals was around only 13% in 2010. In addition to this picture of rapid growth, there are other very positive trends in the Cambodian tourism sector. The country has moved quickly from dependency on long-haul US and European source markets to a much more balanced spread of markets, with well over half of the international market coming from ASEAN member states. In fact, cross-border flows are a significant factor in the flow of tourists throughout this region of Cambodia. The opening of border [...]... interested in ecotourism due to: improving the well-being of local communities; providing local host-guest experiences; Diversifying their product Even though the interest in Ecotourism and CBT is high among the tour operators, only 46% of the respondents include CBT site in their product offerings These sites are mostly located in Tonlé Sap Region (30%) and Northeast Cambodia (27%) Majority of the respondents... implementation of the international concept of ecotourism discussed in Chapter 2 The Ministry of Tourism (MOT) initiated the development of ecotourism in order to: - diversify the tourism product from culture to nature; - raise the profile of the country as a tourism destination; - attract a segment of the tourism market which is considered to have growth potential; - provide an incentive for the sustainable... lack of financial resources to invest effectively in ecotourism region, a lack of training facilities, and the need for better planning and organization of its primary sectors to better supply its growing ecotourism industry are necessarily to be solved attentively That is why in some cases an alternative model-large scale ecotourism development- needs to be taken into consideration to foster the development. .. continued increase in the number of foreign tourist arrivals in Cambodia, associated receipts rose from $ 228 million in 2000 to more than $ 1.78 billion in 2010, representing about 12.5% of the GDP and situating tourism as Cambodia’s second leading source of foreign exchange earnings It is also estimated that 300 000 jobs were directly or indirectly employed by the tourism industry as of 2010 In sum,... knowledge of ecotourism the most beautiful bay in the world • Poor/limited infrastructure and waste club) management • Friendly people with special • Limited promotion and marketing traditional ways of life • Time consuming and financial • Institutional support constraint for ecotourism development • Existing market • Still low income generation from • Existing infrastructure ecotourism development. .. a future increase in ecotourism revenues In the case of Peam Krasop, the interaction opportunities between local communities and tourists are well developed Yet, direct interaction with local people is very limited due to language barriers The majority of local villagers do not speak international language Thus, in an ecotourism growing context, where an increasing amount of tourists visiting the site,... tourists is essential for tour selling, local communities’ participation in ecotourism planning is significant to keep a positive attitude toward ecotourism and conservation Participation in planning of local communities in Peam Krasop and in Chi Phat is well integrated Villagers are openly invited to share their worries, complaints and recommendations during monthly meetings, in order to provide necessary... ownership of their own areas and then do their best to manage and develop it in sustainable and responsible manner By profiting from serving ecotourism activities, they will actively protect and preserve natural resources and environment in the areas 23 However, in its development as an ecotourism destination, Cambodia continues to face many challenges, including the desire to increase the number of visits... representing important shares of their annual income These new income are mostly used to buy medicine, household provisions, blankets and food in periods of shortage (Lyttleton and Allock, 2002) Furthermore, a village development fund, financed with ecotourism revenues (8% of total ecotourism revenues), has been crated during the implementation of the pilot project in order to improve local communities infrastructures... promoting and strengthening the Public-Private-People Partnership (4P) Thus, all ecotourism activity should be controlled and managed by a National Ecotourism Committee that is comprised of local community representatives as well as representatives of Ministry of tourism, Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Agriculture, Fishes and Forestry, Ministry of Rural Development, Council for the development of . sustainable use of local resources, participation of stakeholders in benefit sharing, strengthening of local institutions, linkages with regional and national levels, education and training circumstances in Cambodia, the country is well-suited for the implementation of the international concept of ecotourism discussed in Chapter 2. The Ministry of Tourism (MOT) initiated the development of. survey conducted by SNV among CATA members in 2008, approximately 55% are aware of ecotourism and its principles. More than 90% of the respondents are interested in ecotourism due to: improving the