Yoga to play a role in tourism of Cambodia

PHNOM PENH Cambodia plans to establish a Yoga Federation to tap the popular meditative exercise and offer a wider range of services to support tourism.
Phnom Penh Post quoted Tourism Minister Thong Khon saying that the government will work with the National Olympic Committee of Cambodia to establish a Yoga Federation to help promote yoga in tourism.

“The federation will support the tourism sector,” he said.

Yoga instructors across the country will be encouraged to join the new federation, the minister said, although he did not say when it would be established.

Usually a federation is a representative body for a group of associations that already exist. It enhances cooperation and support for an industry. In Cambodia. there are just yoga clubs and hotels offering yoga classes without the support of an associations recognized by government.

inside no 3

“After the federation is created, we might hire some Indian yoga trainers so they can recruit other locals who do not know yoga, but want to practice it.”

World Express Tours and Travel managing director, Ho Vandy, said the plan if successful would create another reason for people to visit the kingdom.

“The more programmed that we have, the more colorful tourism [will be] in Cambodia,” he said.
Demand for yoga instruction has been growing in Siem Reap, according to Stephen Faiers, manager and owner of Angkor Bodhi Tree Retreat and Yoga Center.

“We’ve been hearing that a lot more hotels and resorts are looking for yoga teachers to be able to provide yoga to their guests,” Faiers said.

He added that Cambodians are becoming more interested in practicing yoga as well. The creation of the proposed Yoga Federation comes on the heels of International Yoga Day, which was celebrated in Siem Reap’s Angkor and Phnom Penh 21 June.

News Source:  tourismcambodia.com