Cambodia looks to regional links and diversification

When Cambodia played host to the ASEAN Tourism Forum in 2003 in its capital city of Phnom Penh, hopes were high that the exposure to the movers and shakers of the tourism industry within ASEAN and tour operators worldwide would present the country as a destination of myriad attractions, fascinating culture and a friendly and charming people.



Great pains were also taken to impress upon the visitors that the political situation was stable and security was not an issue. However all that came to naught when a day after ATF ended, riots broke out and properties were damaged. The picture perfect image of Cambodia as a serene nation was shattered and the forum’s participants returning from their post-conference tours could not believe it was the same city, which put its best foot for them during the conference.



Since then the country has been hit by one misfortune after another, which were not specific to Cambodia but affected the region as a whole – the outbreak of SARS, bird flu and the fear of terrorist attacks fuelled by the Iraq war.



The effects of these developments had led to Cambodia struggling to increase its tourist arrivals. While fellow ASEAN member countries boast of between five and over 10 million arrivals a year, Cambodia is contented with just 1.42 million last year. This number was however a record of sorts – a 35 percent jump over the 1.06 million in 2004.



Despite growing competition from other countries in Indochina, namely Myanmar, Vietnam and Laos, Cambodia’s tourism ministry is determined that tourism, currently the number two foreign exchange earner, maintains its healthy growth.



Encouraged by the high number of ASEAN arrivals, jumping by between 30 and 60 percent in the past few months, Cambodia is using ASEAN as leverage to give its tourism industry a fillip.



This is part of the new marketing strategies, which Cambodia’s tourism ministry recently implemented, to maintain the momentum in tourist arrivals as well as to fend off competition from its Indochina neighbours.



“Our strategies are two-pronged – participating in intra-ASEAN tourism initiatives and developing more intra-Cambodia tourism destinations,” said K.B.Thuraisingham (right), principal advisor to Cambodia’s ministry of tourism.



“We’re on a learning curve and have a great deal to learn from exceptionally successful countries like Malaysia,” said Thuraisingham of the first initiative.



With a limited marketing budget, around US$1 million, such a strategy goes a long way in helping Cambodia promote itself.



“On the second strategy we need to aggressively promote all of what Cambodia has been blessed with, especially since it has for long been perceived as a one-product tourism destination dependent only on Angkor Wat and its great temple complexes. While there is only one Angkor Wat, there is so much else to the kingdom,” he stressed.



On the drawing board are plans to develop Phnom Penh into a multi-faceted city as the “Paris of the East”; the beach resorts, such as Sihanoukville; and ecotourism products, such as Rattanakiri and the Cardamon Mountains, which are still relatively unknown,A new Phnom Penh, just a few kilometres from the existing city, is also in the making. The brand new capital city will have a fresh new look, better infrastructure and services, to compete with other regional cities for tourism and business investments.



“This strategic location will put the city in a good stead as a hub for tourism and business,” said Thuraisingham.



Construction of the new city is slated to start later this year and its development will be undertaken by a Malaysian company, Sunway Corporation.



“We’re also demolishing the image that Phnom Penh is only a city of skulls, ala the Genocide Museum and the Killing Fields, but that it’s a metropolis of great entertainment, incredible shopping and superb dining,” said Thuraisingham.







Sihanoukville will be developed as an alternative to Bali and focus will be on the Australian market. Cruise ships are also calling here and plans are to extend its development into a cruise hub.



“We are encouraging investors to build more resorts as presently there are not many hotels there.”



As for the ecotourism products, Thuraisingham said the government would build infrastructure to make the areas more accessible. He said development would be done in a sustainable way so as not to damage the environment.



He dismissed the suggestion that without a national carrier Cambodia is hampered in its efforts to global markets.







“AirAsia, Thai AirAsia and Jetstar are helping us to connect to the world. The success of this is reflected in South Korea being our top market, followed by Japan, the US, China and Malaysia.”



He revealed the Cambodian government is “talking to Malaysia Airlines to be Cambodia’s official airline” and that MAS was “supportive”.



As for security, Thuraisingham reiterated that Cambodia is very safe.



“We hope that you as the media can stress on that. If everyone understands Cambodia is safe, then everything’s all right.”



Another positive development for the industry is the imminent star-rating for hotels throughout Cambodia. With that in place, hotels will operate on a more professional platform and hopefully end the price war among hotels especially during the low season.



The tourism ministry and the private sector working group, comprising the Cambodian Hotels Association, Cambodian Restaurants and Bars Association and Cambodian Travel Agents Association, are working out the criteria and regulations.



Currently hotels are rating themselves and so there was no way to control room rates. With average room occupancy of about 45 percent in four-star and five-star hotels city-wide, price undercutting to get the business was not uncommon, said,” said Issaz @ Ishak Yunus, resident manager of Holiday Villa Hotel & Suites Phnom Penh.



Travel agents, while welcoming the government’s move to diversify the country’s products, said the main draw for tourists, especially those from Europe and UK, are still the Killing Fields/Genocide Museum in Phnom Penh and Angkor Wat although an increasing number are venturing into less-trodden paths.



Men Sedaravy, owner of Ravy Angkor Tours said: “The most popular destination for my clients, mainly from the UK and France, are the Angkor Wat temple, Phnom Penh city tours and the beach of Sihanouk and Kampot province. I am sure with the government’s new marketing strategies we will have more products to market and Cambodia will become even more popular.”



An optimism shared by all in Phnom Penh that TravelWeekly talked to. And it is this optimism that may well help elevate Cambodia’s tourism industry and help it find a place in the sun.