Outbound Tourism Rose 30 Percent During Water Festival
Cambodian outbound tourism saw a 30 percent rise during this year’s three-day Water Festival, while long haul destination tour packages to Europe, Australia, US, and Dubai have also started to attract locals, said tour operators.
Sky King Travel and Tour CEO, Sok Kunthea, reported to Khmer Times that for the three-day Water Festival and end-of-year tour packages, her company saw bookings from 30 groups of local tourists, totaling more than 250 passengers. She said ten groups booked long-haul destinations like Europe, Australia, the US, and Dubai, while the rest will be flying to Singapore and Malaysia.
Ms. Sok Kunthea added that among the long-haul destinations, Europe is the most popular, followed by Australia, the US, and Dubai. She said, “The number of Cambodian outbound tourists booking package tours through my company has increased by about 20 to 30 percent this year. With the Water Festival this year, we saw very good package bookings. We have more than 30 groups, and some of them have booked travel dates that run until the end of the year.”
“Some Cambodian tourists now prefer spending more money on long-haul destinations like Europe, the US, Australia, and Dubai. Some groups are booking for Singapore and Malaysia,” Ms. Sok Kunthea said. She mentioned that some Cambodian tourists could spend up to $4,000 for two-week tour packages to Europe, the US, and Australia, while they would spend about $500 to $600 for a one-week tour package to Singapore and Malaysia.
“Our economy and the living standards of the people are better, therefore they are able to pay for long-haul destinations. Also, they are more aware of how to travel, how to apply for visas to those countries, and so on,” Ms. Sok Kunthea explained. Her company’s tour packages for this year are fully booked, and the company is already offering packages for the upcoming Chinese New Year and Khmer New Year next year.
Another local tour operator, Lav Heng, president of VLK Royal Tourism, mentioned that although bookings for long-haul destinations during this year’s Water Festival were scarce, local outbound tourists have booked tickets for short-distance travel through his company. He noted that tourists booked tour packages for neighboring countries, like Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore, and Malaysia.
“We saw slower booking growth this year compared to last year. We have about 10 groups, each consisting of 25 to 30 people. My customers prefer visiting nearby places like Vietnam and Thailand,” said Mr. Heng. “We have fewer bookings for packages to the European Union, Korea, or Japan. Some clients are willing to spend around $3,000 for tour packages to the EU, while others spend around $1,000 for 10 days to Korea and Japan. Our 10 groups will go to Thailand, Singapore, and Vietnam with a budget of $500 to $600 for a week,” he added.
Ho Vandy, secretary-general of the Cambodia National Tourism Alliance, also noticed that the demand for Cambodian outbound tourism during the Water Festival and for New Year’s Eve is high, especially for destinations like Thailand, Malaysia, mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Japan, Korea, and a few long-haul destinations.
Kong Sophearak, director of the Statistics Department at the Ministry of Tourism, said that outbound tourism to Europe, Australia, and the US is still small, adding that most people are flocking to neighboring countries like Thailand and Singapore. He mentioned there is no breakdown of figures from the new destinations. Mr. Sophearak noted that the factors driving Cambodian tourists to long-haul destinations include good connectivity, better income for locals, and easier visa access to some long-haul destinations.
According to the Ministry of Tourism, outbound tourism rose by 10.6 percent in the first nine months of the year. From January to September, about 1.46 million Cambodian tourists traveled abroad, compared to 1.32 million people during the same period last year.