The Kingdom eyes for the return of international tourists

H. E Thong Khon, Minister of Tourism of the Kingdom of Cambodia

Minister of Tourism Thong Khon said the ministry is laying the groundwork for a plan to revive international tourism by the fourth quarter of this year.

“We will assess the quality of tourism services at all destinations and we will quickly establish tourism service standards in the context of COVID to ensure the safety and quality of each destination for guests,” he told local media.

The ministry will conduct a feasibility study that will analyse the possibility of inviting vaccinated international visitors from low-risk countries to enter Cambodia as tourists.

He added that the ministry would also require employees in the tourism sector to be vaccinated and display their vaccination cards visibly along with their staff identification.

“Overall, in order to be ready to receive international [visitors], the first thing is to build trust with tourists,” he said. “The second is the quality and service of tourism products and reasonable prices. The third is to facilitate travel for tourists through international gates.”

While domestic tourism enjoyed a spike over the holiday weekend commemorating His Majesty King Norodom Sihamoni’s birthday, international tourism remains in a dismal state and its potential to recover in the near term appears to be limited.

President of the Cambodia Tourist Guide Association Pok Samnang recently told the Khmer Times, “We have so far kept our regional networks with our partners in Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia and even some in Europe but it seems that no country has been able to control the spread of the virus 100 percent yet. All we can do now is just wait and see.”

Cambodia attracted 6.6 million international visitors during 2019, earning a gross revenue of $4.9 billion, which accounted for almost 13 percent of the country’s gross domestic product.

During 2020, Cambodia received only 1.31 million foreign visitors, a fall of around 80 percent compared with 2019. This drop exceeded the global decline in international arrivals in all countries, which stood at 74 percent.

The number of foreign tourists that visited Cambodia dropped by 93 percent in the first quarter of this year to 70,900, according to the quarterly report from the Ministry of Tourism.

Thai tourists topped the list with 35,294 arrivals, accounting for 49.8 percent of the total foreign arrivals in Cambodia, while Chinese tourists came second with 23,837, followed by 3,562 Vietnamese, 2,331 Indonesians and 1,124 South Koreans. Khmer Times