English
Cambodia: Tourism activity, domestic consumption recover
Tourism activity and domestic consumption in Cambodia showed signs of recovery in 2022, according to a report.
In its ‘Cambodia Economic Update June 2022’ the World Bank said the travel and tourism industry in the country gradually recovered, underpinned initially by domestic travel and tourism after the relaxation of travel restrictions started in October 2021.
It said the tourism sector is now wide open for international visitors, preparing itself for the return of international arrivals.
Some of the steps that helped revive the prospects of tourism were the reinstatement of the Visa on Arrival programme, the removal in March 2022 of the requirement for a negative PCR test obtained 72 hours before arrival in Cambodia, and the elimination of (outdoor) mandatory mask-wearing in April 2022. The tourism sector is now wide open for international The Kingdom has also introduced the Siem Reap tourism development masterplan for 2021–35 in October 2021. It has also a $150 million public investment project to develop the physical infrastructure, consisting of 38 roads with a total length of 108 kilometres in Siem Reap, in March 2022, the report pointed out.
Quoting figures from the Ministry of Tourism, the bank said more than five million domestic tourists visited various tourist attraction sites in Cambodia during the Khmer New Year in mid-April 2022. The ministry said the international arrivals also started to improve, and reached 95,000 during the first two months of 2022, or a 131 percent year-on-year increase.
“During the pre-pandemic period, tourism (including hospitality) was the second-largest growth driver, estimated to have contributed about 18.7 percent of real GDP growth in 2019. The tourism sector is an important foreign exchange earner, accounting for more than three-quarters of Cambodia’s services exports, and about one-fifth of its total goods and services exports,” the report said.
Another area that aided the economy was the recovery in domestic consumption. “Thanks to the reopening of the economy, domestic consumption, which accounts for about three-quarters of GDP, has recovered,” the bank mentioned in its report.
During the first three months of this year, imports of goods (excluding gold) grew at 21.6 percent year on year.
“Imports of both consumer goods and durable goods strengthened, reflecting improved consumer confidence, supporting a broad-based economic recovery to take shape. Imports of consumer goods such as foodstuffs and garments rose to 17.8 percent and 34.6 percent, respectively. Imports of petroleum products, namely gasoline and diesel products, grew at 64.9 percent and 56.3 percent, respectively,” it pointed out.
Imports of durables goods such as passenger cars and tractors also accelerated further, growing at 14.2 percent and 36.5 percent, respectively, the report added.
Source: https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501110786/tourism-activity-domestic-consumption-recover/