Following a successful year in 2024 that saw foreign tourist arrivals exceed expectations, the Ministry of Tourism has set an ambitious target of attracting up to more than 7 million international tourists in 2025.
“The ministry has set a strategic plan in targeting to attract up to 7.2 million or 7.5 million foreign tourists in 2025,” H.E. Huot Hak, Minister of Tourism said in a dissemination on “Tourism Promotion and Anti-Fake News” held Jan. 15 at the Ministry of Information.
Cambodia welcomed 6.7 million international tourists, an increase of 22.9 percent compared to 2023 and an increase of 1.4 percent compared to 2019, the period before the COVID-19 spread.
With the ambition to attract more foreign tourists to visit Cambodia, the ministry will prioritise key tasks including developing a detailed action plan, ensuring the plan is carried out effectively and responsibility, and continuously monitor and assess tourist arrivals, he said.
The Ministry of Tourism has assigned ministry’s working groups to prepare strategies to focus on increasing attractiveness among the Muslim tourism market in response to trends as well as the continuously increasing size of the Muslim tourism market.
The ministry aims to eliminate the traditional “low season” in Cambodia, striving to maintain a consistency high influx of tourists year-round, he added.
Currently, Cambodia experience distinct tourism seasons – a low season from April to September and a high season from October to March.
In order to provide convenience to travellers and tourists coming to Cambodia, the Royal Government has instructed relevant ministries and institutions to improve and streamline procedures for issuing visas through the e-Visa and e-Arrival systems into a single ecosystem.
The Royal Government has recently adjusted fees of visa by reducing the price of electronic visas (e-Visa) for tourist (T) and regular (E) types.
The fee for tourist type (e-visa T) is reduced to US$30 from US$36, while the fee for regular type (e-visa E) is cut down from US$42 to US$35.