Staff & structure

Department staff

When the APSARA Authority was established, the Department of Tourism did not exist due to a lack of financial and human resources. It was only in 1999 that two tourism officers could be hired to give the department a presence on the Angkor site. The overall staff base of the Department of Tourism includes the following:

- Deputy Director General with the tourism portfolio
- Department Director
- Deputy Director
- Administrative department: 6 persons
- Technical departments: 30 persons

After taking the Tanei training course, young graduates are assigned to the department. They receive on-the-job training and are given direct assistance from the director and experienced officers.

For the training aspect, the Department of Tourism is represented on the Education and Development Board of the Paul Dubrule and Sala Bai tourism schools.

- Professional dress: A uniform is now on the drawing board with a view to enabling the department's officers to work more effectively in the field.
- Hosting trainees and research workers: For many years now, the Department of Tourism has been host to tourism trainees and research workers from all over Europe. A memorandum of understanding signed between the APSARA Authority and the Versailles Public Institution enabled a group of ''Art, Science, Culture and Multimedia'' high school graduates to make a study trip to the Angkor site and to share in designing the APSARA Authority's introductory brochure and preparing the exhibition that was shown at the ICC conference in Paris in November 2003.

Structure of the Department of Tourism

The Department of Tourism is under the responsibility of a Deputy Director General and headed by a Director in charge of all of the technical services of the department.

The department is made up of a Commercial Office and a Technical Office :
- The Commercial Office is divided into 4 sections: promotion (communication, training, publication and national and international tourim events), visitor intake (a welcome hostess and tour guide unit for official visits), development of tourism animation products (artistic and cultural events) and spin-off products.
- The Technical Office with 3 sections operating on the ground at Siemreap: The first section is in charge of site presentation and tourism and environmental management (management of tours and management of the Angkor Park and its environment), the second one is looking after the management of tour guides and operators (tour guides: training and supervision in liaison with the propriate authorities; tour operators: hotels, travel agents, etc.) and the third one is responsible for supervision and management of the concessions and authorizations (ticket sales, shops, transportation, picture taking or filming and domain occupancy).

The administration of these activities is managed by an office in Phnom Penh where applications and visitors are received.