Cambodia’s quest for tourism transformation

• Apr 18, 2023

For the last several years Cambodia’s has been fast-tracking development with once-sleepy beach towns like Sihanoukville turned into bustling cities with more than 70 skyscrapers most built since 2016 with Chinese investment.

The Asian Development Bank estimates the Cambodian economy to grow at 5.5% in 2023 and 6.0% in 2024 on a more robust tourism recovery and higher growth in the services sector, according to a report released earlier this month.

Tourism is one of the four major economic sectors for Cambodia. Prior to the COVID pandemic the country registered 6.6 million international tourists in 2019. The numbers dropped considerably to only 1.3 million in 2020 and a meager 200,000 in 2021. The hope is this year’s SEA Games will help boost Cambodia’s tourism 4.0 to 4.5 million in 2023.

In an interview with Cambodia’s Minister of Tourism, Thong Khon, the Minister talked about the Cambodia’s tourism objectives. “Our focus is “Visit Cambodia Year 2023”,” he said.

“It has the theme “MICE and Sports” and the slogan “Every Day is A Wonder”. Apart from the SEA Games we also have the 12th ASEAN Para Games from 3-9 June in Phnom Penh, with the theme, “Sports Live In Peace”.

There’s also the Mekong Tourism Forum 2023 in Sihanoukville from 25-27 April on “Rethinking for Resilience and Digitalization”. Moreover, Cambodia organized  historical new year celebrations in Siem Reap province, “the 10th Anniversary of Angkor Sankranta,” 14-16 April,” Khon added. boxscorenews.com