Background
The Department of Tourism of the Royal University of Phnom Penh (RUPP) was established in 2001 with approval from the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport. The Department of Tourism is committed to high-quality tourism teaching and research and offers a Master in Tourism Management program developed in partnership with the University of Technology Sydney, Australia and the University of Bologna, Italy. The Department of Tourism also offers an interdisciplinary Bachelor of Arts in Tourism Management, from which students graduate with a polished understanding of business management, environmental planning, economics, psychology, cultural studies, geography, marketing and management, as well as topics specific to the tourism sector such as transportation, hospitality, and attractions management. Since 2014, the Department of Tourism and the Department of International Business Management have introduced integrated courses, opening opportunities for students to enroll in courses that are provided by both departments.
Department of Tourism’s Main Activities
Since 2003, the Department of Tourism has provided the Bachelor of Arts in Tourism Management with a focus on market-based solutions to tourism as well as sustainable tourism and community development. Department of Tourism has also conducted tourism research studies at the national, provincial, and community level. To support the development and management of community-based tourism projects in Cambodia, our academic staff have carried out training workshops that contributed to the sustainability of community livelihoods within different tourism communities. The Department of Tourism has 13 researchers, five of whom are full-time, who are responsible for developing and teaching research courses, publishing individual research, and securing research grants to support student research activities.
Partnership with Ponlok Chomnes
With support from the Ponlok Chomnes Program, the Department of Tourism will conduct research to find solutions to address bottleneck issues in Siem Reap as an active tourism destination, and to encourage more inclusive tourism development. The research aims to investigate interconnected aspects including: the opportunities and challenges of women in small and medium tourism enterprises from an inclusive and equity lens; the engagement of smallholders in tourism supply chain; local empowerment through/in tourism development projects; and the contribution of major tourism operators towards inclusive tourism development in Siem Reap Province. Findings from this timely research will encourage key practitioners, developers and policy makers to more seriously consider aspects of inclusive development in upcoming tourism development projects and plans.
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