BANGKOK, July 16, 2014 — The Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) and the Ministry of Tourism of Cambodia are pleased to announce the launch of The International Conference on Community Development Through Tourism (ICCDT), held in conjunction with PATA Travel Mart 2014 (PTM2014) in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. ICCDT will be held from September 16 – 17 at the Sofitel Phnom Penh Phokeethra.
ICCDT is organised by the Ministry of Tourism of Cambodia, in partnership with PATA, the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), UNSECO and the University of the Sunshine Coast.
The two-day programme will include presentations of successful examples of community-based tourism (CBT), examination of the mechanisms (both institutional and practical) that have led to successful implementation, discussion of the actors involved, and analysis of the lessons learned. The successful examples discussed and evaluated during the conference will be bought together to form a set of over-arching guidelines for tourism development, known as the Phnom Penh Declaration on Community Development Through Tourism.
CBT is a form of sound environmentally sustainable and socially responsible tourism development, which has the potential to contribute substantially to local socioeconomic development, conservation, protection of natural and cultural resources, and poverty reduction.
The conference will showcase the vital role of environmentally sustainable and socially responsible tourism development, in the area of water-based tourism, tourism best practise, heritage conservation, education, community health, and primary production.
The speaker programme has been developed in consultation with the Ministry of Tourism of Cambodia, PATA, and UNWTO in order to involve speakers from a wide range of markets and backgrounds, both in the public and private sector.
The information presented and results of the subsequent discussions during the conference will be collated with a view to provide input to the development of:
The Phnom Penh Declaration on Community Development Through Tourism
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) community-based tourism standards and guidelines
Framework to attract development partners or donor countries to concentrate and support tourism development projects
ICCDT is free of charge and open to the public. Click here to register for the conference.
Media can email Communications@PATA.org to register for ICCDT and PTM2014.
View the full programme here.
