Conserving Wonders: Park Hyatt Siem Reap Joins Forces With World Monuments Fund for Long-term Preservation of Angkor Archaeological Park and Conservation Training
Park Hyatt Siem Reap today announced a collaboration with World Monuments Fund (WMF) designed to support long-term conservation training at Angkor Archaeological Park and deepen responsible guest engagement with one of the world’s most important cultural landscapes.
The collaboration has two core elements:
- Funding the Heritage Foreman-Training initiative through the Suzanne Deal Booth Institute for Heritage Preservation. This six-month program will equip 25 local foremen with the technical skills needed to care for Angkor’s historic temple complexes. Drawn from local communities in and around Siem Reap, the participants will be trained to serve as the custodians of Angkor, ensuring the highly specialised knowledge required for long-term conservation remains in Siem Reap and that the conservation of Angkor remains locally led in perpetuity.
- Broadening awareness of WMF’s heritage training initiatives by offering Park Hyatt guests exclusive, intimate-scale educational experiences in Angkor Archaeological Park. Led by WMF and their team of specialists, visits to active conservation sites at the 9th-century hilltop temple Phnom Bakheng will offer guests rare behind-the-scenes insight into traditional craftsmanship, preservation techniques, and the complexities behind one of the world’s most-visited cultural heritage sites.
“Siem Reap is home to one of the world’s most extraordinary cultural treasures, and we are honoured to support the important work World Monuments Fund has carried out at Angkor for decades,” said Himanshu Kapoor, General Manager of Park Hyatt Siem Reap. “We are excited to offer guests a unique opportunity to connect more deeply to Cambodia’s rich heritage through experiences that are both meaningful and memorable, while contributing to the preservation of Angkor for future generations.”
40 Years of Locally Led Heritage Preservation
WMF has invested approximately USD 19.5 million in conservation efforts across Cambodia, with work carried out overwhelmingly by Cambodian professionals trained through WMF programmes. Since the 1990s, these initiatives have supported more than 100 Cambodian conservation technicians annually, many serving for 15 years or more, contributing an estimated USD 20–25 million in local economic impact and helping restore technical knowledge that has been lost through decades of historic conflict.
WMF’s work at Phnom Bakheng, Angkor Wat, Preah Khan, Ta Som, and other major temple sites at Angkor represents one of the organisation’s longest and most sustained preservation commitments at any UNESCO World Heritage Site.
“For nearly four decades, WMF has worked alongside our Cambodian partners at Angkor to safeguard one of the world’s most important cultural landscapes while rebuilding the technical knowledge needed to sustain it,” said Bénédicte de Montlaur, President and CEO of World Monuments Fund. “At the heart of this effort is our long-standing training programme, which equips Cambodian conservators with the skills to care for these monuments over the long term, ensuring that preservation is locally led and enduring. Support from Park Hyatt Siem Reap strengthens this work by connecting responsible tourism with hands-on conservation and expanding opportunities to train the next generation. This partnership demonstrates how the private sector can play a vital role in protecting heritage across the region, ensuring that Angkor remains resilient and accessible for generations to come.”
This important work aligns with Hyatt’s global World of Care approach, helping destinations thrive. Building on nearly thirty years of field-based instruction at Angkor, the programme helps equip Cambodian conservation professionals with hands-on technical skills needed to care for Angkor’s historic temple complexes and to ensure efforts remain locally led amid increasing environmental and visitor pressures from over two million visitors each year.
Park Hyatt’s Commitment to Culture
Park Hyatt Siem Reap’s collaboration with WMF is the latest in the Park Hyatt brand’s ongoing series of local cultural-investment initiatives, designed to support creative arts and heritage around the world. Like the overarching Hyatt brand, Park Hyatt adheres to the principle that every property has a responsibility to bring a positive benefit to all the people and places it touches.
From Shanghai to Buenos Aires, Park Hyatt hotels are contextually rooted in their location, informed and shaped by the cultures and communities around them, while also actively participating in the cultural life of their destination.
For more information, visit https://www.hyatt.com/park-hyatt/en-US/repph-park-hyatt-siem-reap.
This press release was supplied.
