CHINA is Cambodia largest source of international tourists before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet extended an invitation to Chinese tourists to explore the Southeast Asian country.
In a recent interview, the Cambodian Prime Minister highlighted the various measures his country has implemented to attract global tourists, including those from China.
“Cambodia views tourism as one of the main sources for economic growth and development. We were happy to have a lot of tourists from China. Before COVID-19, we had about 2.3-M visitors, and we hope to raise that back to the levels of pre-COVID and beyond. Our strategy of the Ministry of Tourism has put on a very active program, trying to attract the tourists back, especially from China,’’ according to Hun Manet, Prime Minister of Cambodia.
Hun Manet also acknowledged the information regarding security matters concerning Cambodia and emphasized that they do not represent the whole of Cambodia.
“I understand that there has been some information, some news that cause concern among the Chinese public and the perception about security matters in Cambodia. We acknowledge that there are some issues. No country has zero crimes. Every country has crimes. But those crimes or criminal activities does not represent the whole Cambodia. Besides small issues in certain areas, Cambodia, overall, is a peaceful country, a secure country,” PM Hun Manet said.
In 2016, Cambodia launched the “China Ready” strategy which outlined various steps for tourism authorities to facilitate visits by Chinese tourists such as processing documents for visa processing as well as promoting the local use of Chinese currency and language.
In the end, the prime minister invited Chinese tourists to visit Cambodia.
“My message to Chinese visitors, please go and visit Cambodia, explore all the opportunities that Cambodia can offer, which I think is a kingdom of wonders. Many tourists go to Cambodia, they said ‘Cambodian people are nice people, friendly, always smile’. We always have big cultural heritage,” he added.
In 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic put the global tourism industry to a standstill, Cambodia received 6.61-M foreign tourists. Of this number, 2.3-M were Chinese tourists.
