Phnom Penh
CAMBODIAN tourism officials have pledged to better cater to Japanese tourists in hopes to lure more arrivals from its growing source market.
At the Tourism Destination Japan seminar held yesterday, Cambodia’s minister of tourism Thong Khon said change is essential if the country is to hit its target of 300,000 Japanese visitors by 2020.
“To achieve this vision, we need to develop our tourism services, offer quality human resources and have more Japanese-speaking guides,” he said.
More four- and five-star hotels offering high market-driven standards are also necessary, added Lor Thoura, Ministry of Tourism director. “We must develop our products and standards. We need more public toilets, better infrastructure and tourism information centres,” he said.
With Japan currently Cambodia’s seventh largest market, – more than 90,000 Japanese visited Cambodia between January and June – the government has already set in motion a series of steps to boost figures.
A scheme offering Japanese travellers one-, two- and three-year, multiple entry visas was launched earlier this year, and high hopes are pinned on All Nippon Airways’ (ANA) direct flight between Tokyo and Phnom Penh from September 1.
A direct flight with Yangon in Myanmar in 2012 saw figures soar from 47,000 to 83,000 in two years.
However, Japanese ambassador Kumamaru Yuji said: “The launch of a direct flight in itself does not automatically increase the number of tourists dramatically. It is necessary for Cambodian people in the tourism industry to better understand the needs of Japanese tourists, and to cater to them.”
Fluent Japanese speaker Sambo Nov, executive assistant manager at Sun and Moon Urban Hotel in Phnom Penh, said the hotel has seen a rise in the number of Japanese business travellers – an area she predicts will increase, especially in the capital, as investment from the country continues to flood in.
