Recent tourism, culture and travel accolades for Cambodia should bode well for the hopes of the tourism (and real estate) sectors revival in 2024, with more international flights slowly being introduced at the three operational airports in the Kingdom, a rebranded Ministry of Tourism (MoT) Board and optimism that pre-COVID levels of tourists can be achieved before 2025.
The recent Sub-Decree in 2024 on the restructuring of the Cambodia Tourism Board announced by Prime Minister Hun Manet aims to revitalise the board and mechanisms to enhance cooperation through closer partnerships between the public and private sectors. This should more strategically promote and market Cambodia’s tourism, while more direct flights will be a boon for corporate business in Cambodia.
In 2022, the Cambodian tourism sector generated gross revenue of USD $1.14 billion and sustained 12.4 per cent of total employment. Cambodia attracted just over 5.4 million international tourists in 2023, and The MoT anticipates 6.6 million foreign tourists in 2024.
Cambodian Tourism Data 2024
Although we are only just past two months in 2024, these are also peak tourism months as the numbers usually decline heading towards April and May due to the hot weather in Cambodia and non-wintry conditions in other parts of the world from where visitors come from (outside of Asia).
The latest MoT information reported in the media suggests Cambodia received more than 540,000 international visitors in January 2024 (although a conflicting report suggests this number based on the General Department of Immigration points to as many as 690,000). The top three foreign groups were from Thailand, Vietnam, and China. I can rightfully assume a large percentage visited via land crossings rather than by air travel, and indeed slightly over 206,000 tourists were international air travellers.
Most of the local media have been a little carefree and over the top in reporting on the tourism numbers since the pandemic, as the numbers should be growing substantially as the country tries to reach, and surpass pre-pandemic levels. They will obviously be showing year-on-year increases as they are in most parts of the globe.
The numbers for Siem Reap for January and February 2024 accounted for just over 300,000 national tourists, and slightly more than 235,000 international tourists.
The markets are also insightful, the top 10 origins to visit Siem Reap in 2024 so far, are:
- South Korea 29,254
- US 24,878
- France 21,775
- Britain 19,452
- China 16,074
- Germany 14,214
- Japan 12,094
- India 8,683
- Russia 8,658
- Australia 8,544
In January 2024 alone, Angkor Archaeological Park received over 115,000 foreign visitors, generating USD $5.5 million in revenue.
Very few of those markets currently have direct flights to the Kingdom, but instead need to use other hubs in the region to reach Cambodia by air.
International Media Coverage And Awards For Cambodia’s Tourism In 2024
The Sydney Morning Herald ran an article at the start of March 2024, calling Cambodia “South-East Asia’s enticing new travel frontier”, while (perhaps more hyperbole) an article in another UK magazine ‘The Spectator’ concluded that ‘Cambodia is the best country in the world’.
You shouldn't take this coverage at face value, but positive news should be welcomed and cherished, and even taken advantage of.
- Cambodia was elected as Asia’s Leading Cultural Destination by the World Travel Awards and Asia’s Leading Youth Travel Destination at the start of 2024.
- Phnom Penh was listed in the Top Ten ‘Trending Destinations’ 2024 By Tripadvisor.
- Several Cambodian hotels are regular recipients of international and regional awards for their standards - especially luxury hotels and resorts.
More Direct Air Routes Should Mean Increased Tourism Numbers - The Gulf, India, And More
The launch of the new Angkor International Airport in Siem Reap has probably been a disappointment to some, but let's hope at least these are lessons learned for the current airports which are under construction - notably in Phnom Penh - the Techo Takhmao International Airport which could be operational by 2025.
By the time of publishing, the three international airports in the Kingdom had only seen a marginal increase in flights in 2024. Sin Chansereyvutha, Under-Secretary of State and spokesman of the State Secretariat of Civil Aviation, confirmed as much.
By the end of February 2024, there were 168 international flights per day to Cambodian airports but more air routes have been confirmed in 2024.
Tourism Ministry’s spokesman Top Sopheak agrees that increasing direct flights from abroad to Cambodia with new air routes will make it easier for passengers to travel to Cambodia, the same is, of course, true for investors and property buyers. Direct flights to Cambodia from Europe, North America, Australasia, and Africa are currently unavailable.
It's also no surprise that establishing government-approved business, trade and diplomatic offices in new regions leads to more air routes.
India
The Indian Business Chamber in Cambodia (IBCC) was officially inaugurated at the start of 2024, and its mission is to promote and facilitate trade and investment between India and Cambodia.
As many as three airlines, including Cambodia Angkor Air, are linked to (for the first time) providing direct flights between Cambodia and India in 2024. This is massive news as India is hotly tipped to rival China economically. The global manufacturing and tech shift towards India, and having Cambodia tap the growing economic potential is important.
Cambodia only saw 68,836 Indian visitors in 2023, but direct flights should result in a big upswing, especially if the visa process is streamlined and digitised.
The Indian embassy in Phnom Penh said of the potential 2024 launch of these flights that it would “likely to open up opportunities in tourism and business partnerships". The Cambodian Ambassador to India added that the Cambodian Embassy is currently working with their Indian counterparts to reach a final decision on connecting direct flights between the two nations.
The Gulf
Cambodia opened its first private commercial centre in the UAE in February 2024 which was on the back of the Cambodia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) coming into effect in Q1 2024.
Representatives from the Cambodia Chamber of Commerce, the Cambodian Oknha Association, the Federation of Associations for Small and Medium Enterprises of Cambodia (FASMEC), the Business Council of the Ministry of Commerce, the Tourism Association, agro-industry, real estate, banking, and manufacturing were in the UAE to promote new economic partnerships.
Shortly after, Emirates announced the resumption of flights from Dubai to Phnom Penh to recommence for the first time since before the pandemic, albeit this time via Singapore, with the flights resuming in May 2024.
It was only in Q4 2023, that Qatar Airways started offering direct flights to the Cambodian capital again and were the only direct flights to the Gulf region from the Kingdom.
ASEAN
There are now more routes to popular destinations such as Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur etc.
Lao Airlines will offer direct flights from Vientiane to Phnom Penh starting on 19 March 2024 and will compete with Vietnam Airlines, which flies daily between the two capitals. This route has never been seen as an affordable flight compared to routes such as Phnom Penh to Bangkok or Kuala Lumpur but the Laotian airline will be offering the route three times weekly on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.
Lao Airlines director-general Khamla Phommavanh said, “To support and facilitate tourists and business travellers who need to travel to and from Phnom Penh to the Vientiane capital, our team has studied the feasibility of connecting the capital, Vientiane and Phnom Penh carefully and recognised there is enough demand from tourists and business people for direct flights post Covid pandemic.”
Read Part 2 Next Week….
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