Six Influencers Thrive to Promote Siem Reap Tourism

Society

Six Influencers Thrive to Promote Siem Reap Tourism

By Isa Rohany
February 28, 2024 9:00 AM

SIEM REAP – Young content creators take advantage of the virality of images in the digital era to feature famous and lesser-known places, popular destinations, local food and cultural events in Siem Reap province.

Through videos and photos, their content focuses on education, entertainment and tourism. Among the new generation of social media creators, six youths have actively helped the provincial Tourism Department produce tourism-related content on social media to attract tourists with new recommended places.

One of them is Bun Neam, whose passion for photography started when he was 13 years old. Since then, he has become a professional photographer, receiving remarkable support from the public.

The 25-year-old photographer uses his Facebook account, “នាម-Neam”, to spread his work on the internet, gaining more than 74,000 followers. His most popular post is a black-and-white photograph of Angkor Wat under the rain.

Neam started his journey by learning photography on YouTube and practiced taking photos of temples and some other tourist sites such as mountains and sea landscapes to improve his skill.

Neam gets motivated by the great amount of recognition he receives for his work. He encourages young amateurs to keep their dreams alive and to not give up on acquiring new skills even though the high price of cameras and lenses could be an obstacle at the start.

Photo_នាម-Neam

Good quality smartphones can also do the work, said Neam whose full-time job is sales manager in a private company.

Sok Sanita, also known as “MOON - សក្កទ្វីប” on Facebook, is followed by nearly 30,000 people She loves photography as well as Khmer literature – which is her major at university.

Sanita is a short-film writer from Trapaing Ses village of Kouk Jork commune. She has been taking photos for quite some time but only started sharing her work last year.

Being a woman is not a challenge for her when it comes to photography. However, her safety remains her priority, especially when she is on the field. She wants to avoid causing concern for her family, who is happy that she can blossom doing the work she loves.

Photo_MOON - សក្កទ្វីប

MOON’s ideal type of life partner is also a photographer because the relationship will allow both of them to have stronger pursuance in this field for the same purpose: tourism promotion.

Another content creator, Chuon Sina, goes by the name “Sina ស៊ីណា” on Facebook, where she totals 49,000 followers. She loves to highlight Cambodia’s livelihood around temples, tourism communities, local food, entertainment, and rural areas.

The 25-year-old Business Management graduate has a part-time job at a private company, which gives her more time to travel around to take photos.

Photo_Sina ស៊ីណា

Sina is also running another Facebook page named “Check in Siem Reap- ដើរលេងសៀមរាប” with nearly 50,000 followers, which was created during the COVID-19 outbreak to give tips about what to do and see in the province.

Likewise, Pov Arun, owning “ARUN POV”, followed by 130,000 people and “SIEM REAP VIBES” by 32,000 people on Facebook, started photography in 2014 after attending a workshop on phone photography. Arun began his journey by improving his skills until he became a recognized photographer.

“Photos can be used as [historical] documents but they also promote tourism to national and international visitors. Some content might go viral in foreign countries and attract people here,” Arun said.

From his experience, patience is required when capturing good quality photos, and convenient material is a bonus.

Photo_ ARUN POV

Also based in Siem Reap province, Uy Dinath, known as Mr. Donut ដូណាត់ and followed by more than 20,000 people on Facebook, takes his available time from managing a private school to taking photos of tourism sites and communities in the province.

Dynath has loved photography since high school when he received a camera as a gift from his father who also loved taking photos and would capture family’s activities since he was young. Taking after his father, Dynath considers taking photos as a hobby and does it to release stress.

Dynath believes content creators should not only focus on the province highlights but also push to attract tourists to less-renowned places, as long as they are easily accessible.

Photo_Uy Dinath

Lim Roma, a 29-year-old Ukrainian-Cambodian photographer and English teacher in Siem Reap province uses his photographic skills to feature tourism sites and cultural events.

He mostly features temples, and sculptures on the temple’s walls and galleries – which are his favorite subjects – via his Facebook page “Roma Lim” which is followed by 21,000 people.

Roma loves both the temples and photography. He started to take photos when he was 19 years old on YouTube. For the past few years, he has produced videography and photography content to promote tourism in Siem Reap and in a few other provinces.

Noting that most visitors overlook small or far temples, Roma also highlights the unique spots of those temples where different types of sculpture are present, to attract visitors.

Photo_Roma Lim