Mr. Bruno Bodard, Founder and General Manager of the Most Beautiful Bays in the World Club (World-Bays Club), has praised Cambodia for its good organisation of the ASEAN Tourism Forum 2022 (ATF 2022) in Sihanouk-ville, Preah Sihanouk province.
“[…] The ATF 2022 in Sihanoukville was a real success, in particular thanks to the physical participation of many delegates and international guests coming from several countries of the world, including myself from France,” wrote Mr. Bodard in his Jan. 23 message to Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo Hun Sen, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia.
This forum, he pointed out, together with the announcement of the reopening of ASEAN tourism, can be considered the first international event in Asia and indeed a model for other countries, because “I have personally witnessed that the entire organisation was strictly monitored and implemented in accordance with health protocols to prevent COVID-19 from the beginning to the end of the programme.”
“I would also like to take this opportunity to highly commend the Royal Government of Cambodia, under your leadership, for taking effective measures to prevent COVID-19 from the very beginning, even as many countries across the world continue to suffer from this pandemic,” he continued.
Mr. Bodard expressed thanks to H.E. Chea Sophara, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction and Chairman of the National Committee for Coastal Management and Development of Cambodia for taking the time to meet him on Jan. 21, during which they discussed and exchanged views on many ongoing experiences and achievements related to the coastal development.
Mr. Bruno Bodard also noted the remarkable development of the coastal areas of Cambodia, in particular the development of Sihanoukville such as wide roads, aesthetic design of public beaches with public toilets, sewage treatment plants. “So many topics that I value as a good example of global reflection on urban and coastal development for the future,” he stressed.
The AFT 2022 took place from Jan. 16 to 22 in Sihanoukville, Preah Sihanouk province. According to its online source, the ASEAN Tourism Forum (ATF) is a cooperative regional effort to promote the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as one tourist destination. This annual event involves all the tourism industry sectors of the 10 member states of ASEAN: Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam.
ATF was established in 1981. Each year, the hosting of ATF is rotated among the member countries.

Source: Agency Kampuchea Press