China is set to overtake Vietnam as the number one source of tourists to Cambodia in the near future, according to the Cambodia Association of Travel Agents (CATA).
Figures released last week showed total tourist arrivals to Cambodia fell by three percent in 2016 to 950,000, while Chinese visitors grew by 19 percent to 830,000. That trend will only continue with the government announcing its new Cambodian Overseas Tourism Promotion Board initiative, which is looking to double the number of Chinese visiting the country to two million by 2020.
President of the CATA, Chhay Sivlin, said it wouldn’t be long before China took over top spot for tourism into Cambodia.
“Following the strengthening of the relationship between Cambodia and China and the government’s strategy to promote more Chinese tourist arrivals, China will soon be the leader for tourism visits in Cambodia,” she told the Phnom Penh Post.
However, Sivlin also noted that the Ministry of Tourism must increase the number of flights into Cambodia if it is to hit its target of seven million total tourists by 2020.
“Compared to neighboring countries, the number of international arrivals is still small because the shortage of direct flights is limiting international arrivals,” she said. “The government needs to speed up the process of approving direct flights to reach its tourism goals.”
Tourist arrivals rose from 4.8 million in 2015 to just over five million last year.
