Cambodia announced that it will welcome tourists from China and other international visitors to Cambodia without health requirements. The announcement came as the Chinese government reopened the country on January 8, with many countries announcing that Chinese visitors will be required to show a negative Covid-19 certificate to enter.
In a January 5 press release, the Ministry of Tourism said that China has a large population, and is the largest source of potential tourists in the region.
China also has excellent transportation links with the Kingdom, and strong cooperative ties in many fields. The oft-mentioned common destiny of the two nations means the Chinese tourist market is the highest priority for Cambodia.
“We are pleased to welcome Chinese tourists to Cambodia without any health conditions. The government has been steadily implementing travel facilitation and removing health barriers since it announced the reopening of the country,” said the release.
Before the Covid-19 crisis in 2019, an estimated 155 million Chinese tourists travelled abroad. The number accounted for 10 per cent of the world’s tourists, bringing in about $258 billion in tourist spending, or about one-fifth of $1.3 trillion in world tourist spending.
ASEAN received 32.2 million Chinese tourists, accounting for 22.5 per cent of arrivals. Of that number Thailand received 11 million, Singapore received 3.4 million and Malaysia received 3.1 million.
The number of Chinese tourists to Cambodia in 2019 was over 2.3 million, or more than one third of visitors to the Kingdom, generating $1.8 billion of Cambodia’s $5 billion in total tourist revenue.
In 2019 China was behind more than 50 per cent of Cambodia’s total foreign direct investment (FDI), much of it in the tourism sector.
However, during the Covid-19 pandemic, the state of the Chinese tourist market changed rapidly, with many travel restrictions being imposed.
With the easing of the Covid-19 crisis – and the fact that the Chinese government allowed its citizens to travel abroad once more – tourist destinations around the world, including Cambodia, are ready to welcome Chinese tourists again.
The tourism ministry announced that Cambodia has been evaluated by the World Health Organisation as a leader in the field of vaccinations, with almost the entire population receiving their two-dose shots, and subsequent boosters.
The government ha re-opened socio-economic activities, while adhering to the principle of “learning to live with Covid-19, under the new normal.”
This year is the year of the 65th anniversary of the establishment of Cambodia-China diplomatic relations. The ministry has launched a Visit Cambodia 2023 campaign, which features the slogan “Every Day is a Wonder.”
The ministry appealed to the Kingdom’s people to support tourist, cultural and sporting events, and offer warm hospitality to Chinese tourists.
Cambodia expects to receive an estimated 7 million international visitors per annum by 2025, as detailed in the 2021-2025 roadmap to recover and promote Cambodia's tourism sector during and after the pandemic.
