Cambodia taps China travel boom

PHNOM PENH Cambodia tourism projects Chinese travellers visiting the kingdom will surpass 700,000 by year-end and up to 2 million a year by 2020.
Phnom Penh Post quoted Prime Minister, Hun Sen, saying China was the second tourism source after Vietnam in visitor numbers. However, travel industry executives say trips by Chinese tourists could easily by-pass Vietnam’s annual total by 2020.
“To boost these numbers, the government is considering the possibility of opening more consulates in China and adding more direct flights from Chinese cities.”
Tourism Minister, Thong Khon, cited that to attract more Chinese tourists, the country needs to improve infrastructure and human resources as well as connectivity.
inside no 4“Understanding Chinese consumer behaviour is the key to attracting more Chinese tourists.”
The minister also supported a proposal to encourage local businesses to accept payment in Chinese currency.
“The prime minister has given a green light to the relevant ministries to consider allowing Chinese tourists to use yuan renminbi currency in Cambodia so they don’t need to exchange their money,” he said.
The move is sharp contrast to Myanmar which is closing down non-bank forex services to force tourism-related enterprises to charge in local currency. The tradition of accepting US dollars in restaurants and hotel goes back to the days when the black market exchange rate was considerable higher than quoted by banks.
During the first eight months of the year, 461,518 Chinese tourists visiting Cambodia increased 26.5% from 364,882 visits during the same period last year.
Last year, Cambodia attracted 560,335 Chinese visitors, an increase of 21.0% from 463,123 visits in 2013.

sourced:ttrweekly.ocn