To support the post-COVID-19 recovery and development of sustainable tourism in Cambodia

Funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), the project entitled “Building Back a Climate-Friendly and Inclusive Tourism Sector in Cambodia” was launched in September 2022 with the goal to facilitate the sustainable energy transition of the Cambodian tourism sector through the adoption of solar and efficient cooling solutions in hotels, eco-resorts, and community-based ecotourism. The project outcome will contribute to Cambodia’s transition to low carbon, low cost and low impact power sector.

Sustainable energy transition of the Cambodian tourism sector through the broad adoption of solar and efficient cooling solutions focus on inclusiveness, by increasing the participation of women and the disabled in the tourism and energy sector.

Solar O&M Training in CBETs

With the installation of solar panels, a cooking facility, and a full-serviced restaurant, community-based ecotourism members can now better store food and provide services more effectively for the comfort of the visitors.

"The solar system and all the appliances are working well. We really appreciate this. Now we have more confidence in providing good services to tourists. The visitors are happy with our services and said they would visit us again in the future,” said Mr. Ming Ratha, Lead of Phnom Chomroksat community-based ecotourism.

Entrepreneurship Training for CBETs

In a collaborative effort to consolidate the resilience of Community-Based Ecotourism Committees (CBETs) post-COVID-19, WWF Cambodia, in partnership with the Cambodia Tourism Federation (CTF) and the Culture and Environment Preservation Association (CEPA), organised an advanced training course on Entrepreneurship. The training, titled "Strengthening the Capacity of the CBETs Committee After the Covid-19 Pandemic" brought together 26 participants, comprising top management representatives from various CBETs in Kratie and Stung Treng provinces including Koh Han, Koh Preah, Koh Sam Seb, Koh Promcharey, Phnom Chomroksat. Important topics such as the development of sustainable business, effective financial management, community engagement, digital marketing and outreach have been covered in the training. The goal is to help CBETs improve their skills and encourage them to be entrepreneurial and innovative in their approach to ecotourism.

"After attending the four-day training, I gained valuable knowledge in community management, service package development, CBET promotion, and tourist attraction strategies. I will apply this knowledge to my own CBET to improve its operations and attract more tourists," said sub-community leader in Koh Promcharey Mr. Chhengim.

An advanced training course on solar energy training was organized by WWF-Cambodia in partnership with Solar Energy International (SEI) for 25 participants from 9th to 18th January in Phnom Penh. This training was established to provide cutting-edge knowledge on the technical aspects of solar systems to solar engineers, technical staff of relevant ministries, and electrical and engineering students, as current Cambodia’s solar market is in demand. Throughout the training, the participants learned a lot of relevant technical features including solar components and system configurations, site analysis, grounding methods, system sizing, safe practices, and commissioning, etc. After the training, participants could enhance their up-to-standard technical capacity and apply these skills in their projects or workplaces. It should also be noted that this is the first training on solar design by WWF-Cambodia and Global Cool and Solar programme.