Cambodia will introduce multiple tourist visas

PHNOM PENH  Cambodia’s government has confirmed it will issue three- year multiple visas to Chinese and South Korean tourists to boost travel from these two key source markets.

Agence Kampuchea Presse reported, Wednesday, that the Ministry of Tourism proposed the user friendly multiple visa to support repeat tourism that will help  attract more visitors and investors.

The news report did not elaborate on when the new visa would be introduced but it has been under discussion since earlier this year.

China and South Korea are identified as among the country’s top 10 sources for tourism. Last year, China ranked second with 694,712 visits increasing 24.0% from 560,335 visits in 2014, while South Korea was fourth with 395,259 visits although there was a decline of 6.9% from 424,424 visits.

The strategy is expected to help Cambodia achieve a target of 7.5 million foreign tourists by 2020, which the ministry forecasts will generate USD5 billion in economic activity annually and create 1 million jobs.

In 2015, the country attracted 4.77 million international travellers improving 6.1% from 4.50 million visits in 2014.

Cambodia grants visa exemption to all member-nations of ASEAN and cooperates with Thailand to offer a two-country visa applied for at either a  Thai or Cambodian embassy (first point of entry) for nationalities that still require visas for both countries.

Nationals of other countries can obtain a visa-on-arrival (USD30) or for a business visit (USD35), for a maximum stay of 30 days.