Kingdom Eyes Elderly Tourists

The Cambodian government is working on a tourism policy to manage a projected increase in the number of elderly foreign tourists visiting the Kingdom, an official of the Ministry of Tourism said yesterday during a workshop in Sihanoukville. 

The ageing population of developed economies like Europe, Japan, and China is increasing and more elderly tourists are now looking at countries like Cambodia as possible tourist destinations, said Chhay Khunlong, Deputy Director-General for Tourism at the ministry. According to official data, while Cambodia received about 4.8 million foreign visitors in 2015, just 4 percent of them were tourists aged 65 or older. 

The ratio is, however, expected to rise. “The number of senior tourists will increase in the future, so we need to give more attention to create tourism products and services that reflect this,” he said. Khunlong said that the ministry will work with tour operators to eliminate barriers to encourage more senior tourist arrivals. His comments come just days since immigration officials announced they would introduce a new visa category to allow foreign retirees to live in Cambodia without a work permit. 

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