Program Established to Boost Siem Reap Tourism
- By Meng Seavmey
- November 14, 2023 11:00 AM
PHNOM PENH – A "Visit Siem Reap 2024" program has been announced to boost tourism in the province.
The industry is one of the most important economic resources for local people and the province was the destination most affected by COVID-19.
Prime Minister Hun Manet told a Government-Private Sector Forum the government had also set out measures to help tourism operators and business owners in the province and attract more international tourists.
The Small and Medium Enterprises Bank of Cambodia will organize a direct loan program worth of $50 million primary to enable tourism business owners to reopen and improve their services and hospitality.
These loans would be at an acceptable rate and with favourable conditions in line with the type of business, he said.
The government will also allow banks and financial institutions to re-organize loans on a temporary 12-month basis for tourism operators facing financial problems.
“Tourism diversification will encourage operators and business owners to improve their services or products, which will encourage tourists to pay more,” he said.
This would add to the income of local people. It would also encourage tourists to stay in the country longer. Tourists in the post-pandemic period had a record of staying longer than before the pandemic.
He said the Ministry of Tourism must reform and re-establish the Tourism Council with the participation from state institutions and private sectors as soon as possible to resolve the challenges faced by the private sectors, plans or strategies for tourism development, and solving medium-term problems.
He added that the council must organize and set out specific action plans to implement the program by the end of the year.
This is expected to resolve challenges in the value chain for tourism in Siem Reap province.
These include promotion, direct flights to major tourism destinations, reformation and enhancement of the services and accommodation,
Also included are improvement of infrastructure from the new airport to the city, entrance prices for tourism locations and operation prices for aviation.
The PM called for improved hospitality at border gates. To create a good impression for international tourists, the Interior Ministry’s General Department of Immigration will set out three measures.
One of these is reducing the number of forms that need to be filled in from three, migration, customs and quarantine, to one electronic form. This change will start on Jan. 1.
The department will also organize a hotline for complaints about services provided by the immigration officers and will create a monitoring system with automation and cameras to inspect the work regularly.
Hun Manet called on stakeholders to carry out the three tasks at the Siem Reap-Angkor International Airport by the end of 2023.
He said also he would consider a private sector request to expand the scope of a card to let tourists cross the border directly. He said the measure would be tried first for Siem Reap province and ordered the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Interior to work on it soon.
The government will implement tax incentives to help maintain stability and ease the financial burden for tourism operators.
The PM said tour guides and interpreters whose licences had expired would be exempt from transition period fines.
The ministry will work with the Tourism Council to plan for direct flights to Siem Reap province from tourism destinations such as Phuket, Bali, Da Nang and Cebu.
Hun Manet was asked to consider making the visa system flexible and attractive for priority markets.
However, he said this was not the answer to problems because Cambodia has been providing many coordinationhad coordinated services by providing the arrival visavisas and e-visavisas.
He said the visa fee is not a barrier for tourists and the fee is an important non-tax source of revenue for the country.
In the first seven months of 2023, more than three million tourists came to Cambodia.
Of these, 264,018 international visitors arrived at Siem Reap’s international airport. The number was higher than that in 2020, 2021 and 2022 but was a 20.9 percent down on the same period in 2019.
