Cabinet approves MoU with Cambodia for cooperation in tourism

The Union Cabinet approved an agreement signed between India and Cambodia for bilateral cooperation in the tourism sector that aims at enhancing investment and promoting exchange of experience in marketing, destination development and management in this field. 

"The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister NarendraModi, has given its ex-post facto approval for signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and Cambodia for cooperation in the field of tourism with an aim to promoting bilateral tourism between the two countries," a statement said. Cambodia is an emerging tourism source market for India. India has extended the Electronic Tourist Visa (eTV) facility to the country's citizens which has elicited good response from the travel trade of both countries. 

The government believes that the MoU signed with Cambodia will further increase tourist arrivals from the Southeast Asian nation. The MoU was signed during Vice President Hamid Ansari's Cambodia visit on September 16. The main objectives of this agreement are expansion of bilateral cooperation in tourism sector, exchange of data and information related to tourism, encouraging cooperation between tourism stakeholders including hotels and tour operators. It also focuses on establishing exchange of programmes for cooperation in human resources development, investment in tourism and hospitality sectors, exchange of visits of tour operators/media/opinion makers for promotion of two way tourism.  The agreement also seeks to promote exchange of experience in areas of promotion, marketing, destination development and management, encourage participation in travel fairs/ exhibitions in each other's country and promoting safe, honourable and sustainable tourism.