At ITB Berlin 2026, the Cambodia Tourism Board (CTB) had taken over the representation of the Kingdom from the Ministry of Tourism. A large stand with a modernized design welcomed visitors during the three days of the show. The presence of Minea Kim, CEO of the CTB, gave an opportunity for Travel Mole to talk about new initiatives that the CTB has in mind to stimulate the destination.
For a first ITB Berlin experience, Minea Kim is satisfied but sees room for further improvement in exposure next year. ” Overall, the feedback from stakeholders about our booth this year has been very positive. It’s larger, it has better visibility, and people noticed it.”
“ITB Berlin is a huge show and preparation is important. ” he added. Next year we plan to prepare much earlier our stakeholders and partners. Registration opens in June, so if we start then we’ll have much more time to organize meetings and events.”
Visibility of Cambodia is crucial towards travel professionals. Kim explained that the CTB will also consider hosting special events during ITB, targeting travel agents, corporate partners and media.
On Cambodia’s main tourism challenge: awareness
Changing Cambodia perception also implies a complete new approach to the market. “In the past, Cambodia had a kind of passive vision in its tourism promotion. It was almost like saying, ‘Please come,’ but without offering any support,” analyzed Kim. “We now take a more proactive approach. We invite partners, we support them, and we actively collaborate. This makes a big difference, because it shows that Cambodia is serious about working with the industry.”
“The feedback from travel professionals is generally very positive towards our country. When people visit Cambodia, they love it and often recommend it to others. The main issue is awareness. Many travelers still don’t know enough about Cambodia. Travel agents can’t spend their own marketing budgets simply to build awareness for a destination. Their role is more about engagement and conversion -turning interest into bookings,” highlighted Kim.
Launching the “500 Travel Agents” familiarization program
How then to generate more interest for Cambodia? For Minea Kim, it is really the core job of the CTB to invest in awareness through media, digital campaigns, magazines, videos, and television exposure. Highly important is about supporting travel agencies to “think Cambodia”.
“This year we launch a program to bring 500 travel agents to Cambodia between May and October, during the green season. The quota is divided across key markets: 20% would come from Europe, 20% from China, 20% from North America and Oceania and 10% each from India, Japan/South Korea, Russia and Southeast Asia,” said Kim.
The program will work in two ways. International agents can either contact their local partner in Cambodia directly to participate to the program. Or, they may be nominated by a local partner in Cambodia. The local partner can be a DMC but not only.
It can also be a hotel, an airline, a tour-operator or another travel agency or any tourism business registered in Cambodia and able to organize and host the fam trip. Groups will remain small — ideally between one and ten participants.
The application only needs to be completed by the local partner on behalf of the participating international travel agents. “This approach helps to ensure that both sides can build a partnership and business cooperation after the trip,” explained the CTB CEO. “For foreign travel agencies who never worked with Cambodian partners, they can contact us directly and we will connect them with local partners.“
What will bring the CTB, beside launching the fam trip? “We will provide subsidies of up to $500 for air tickets, as well as providing complimentary tickets to visit Angkor Wat,” said Kim.
A new Cambodia aspect : promoting a contemporary, urban destination
Cambodia tourism relies so far on two aspects : the magnificent heritage of Angkor Wat and its coastal area in the South. “Another important message is that Cambodia is not only about heritage and nature. We also want to showcase modern urban life and help Phnom Penh or Siem Reap attracting city-break travelers,” told Kim.
” Phnom Penh is a vibrant city with a dynamic food scene, cafés, art spaces, and cultural events. Places like Battambang also have exciting art communities. We have been sharing more of this content on social media — markets, coffee culture, street life — not just iconic landmarks. Interestingly, this type of content performs very well because it shows the real everyday life of Cambodia.”
