Siem Reap’s Roadmap To 2035 Aims For 18m Tourists

Siem Reap: The Ministry of Tourism on April 01, 2021, issued a statement on the Roadmap Plan to restore and promote Cambodia’s tourism in and after the Kovid-19 crisis, and the master plan for tourism development in Siem Reap 2021-2035, which was officially approved by Prime Minister Hun Sen on March 30, 2021.

A press release from the Ministry of Tourism stated that the tourism sector is a priority sector in contributing to the socio-economic development of Cambodia. Tourism as well as other sectors have been severely affected by the COVID-19 crisis. For Cambodia, the rehabilitation of this sector requires clear and comprehensive thinking and orientation.

“Roadmap on the Plan for the Rehabilitation and Promotion of Cambodia’s Tourism in and After the Kovid-19 Crisis” is an important strategic plan to ensure the timely implementation of intervention measures. The roadmap will set out a vision for turning the COVID-19 crisis into an opportunity for sector reform and for Cambodia Tourism to become a quality, safe and sustainable tourism destination by recovering the number of international tourists and promoting domestic tourism activities.

This roadmap was prepared by the Ministry of Tourism and approved by the National Committee for Tourism Development, The Ministries of Education, Youth, Sports, Cult and Religion, Culture and the National Assembly, along with other relevant ministries and institutions and the private sector as well.

The tourism restoration and promotion plan will be implemented in three phases, including: Phase 1 (Resilience & Restart): Crisis management in the phase New Normal and Plan for Recovery (2021). Phase 2 (Recovery): Restoration of the sector. Cambodia Tourism after the Kovid 19 Crisis (2022-2023) and Phase 3 (Relaunch): Preparations for a New Future of Tourism Cambodia (2024-2025).

The roadmap contains a total of 9 strategies, 49 strategic actions and 180 detailed strategic actions, along with 17 priority program projects. In addition, to guide and monitor the implementation of the action plan in each phase of the roadmap, the Royal Government will set up an inter-agency mechanism.

The approval of the Roadmap on the plan to restore and promote Cambodia’s tourism in and after the COVID-19 crisis is now. At the same time, the Royal Government is announcing to promote the vaccination campaign to the people and strengthen the mechanism to control the epidemic in the community as well.

The Siem Reap Tourism Development Master Plan 2021-2035 was prepared by the “Inter-Ministerial Commission to Study and Prepare the Siem Reap Tourism Development Master Plan”. By Mr. Thong Khon, Minister of Tourism and Chairman of the Inter-Ministerial Commission and approved and supported by the National Committee for Tourism Development with Mr. Aun Porn Moniroth, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance as the chairman.

Siem Reap Tourism Master Plan aims to enable Siem Reap to regain its pride as a major tourist destination in Cambodia and in Southeast Asia in the medium and long term ahead.

This master plan sets the vision for Siem Reap to attract and receive about 18.4 million national and international tourists, of which the number of national tourists number approximately 10.9 million and 7.5 million international tourists to create 940,000 jobs. Siem Reap’s economy is estimated at 6 billion US dollars and will make the province and surrounding areas a “quality tourist destination” by 2035. By setting and implementing seven strategic goals, including:

1. Development of priority tourist sites in Siem Reap. 

2. Development of new tourism products. 

3. Promoting and attracting tourists to Siem Reap. 

4. Strengthening the quality and sustainability of tourism development in Siem Reap

5. Environmental management in Siem Reap 6.

This master plan sets out a total of 44 strategies, a total of 136 implementation activities for the short, medium and long term, accompanied by priority action plans. The Ministry of Tourism will continue to discuss with relevant ministries and institutions to promote the implementation of these two important strategic documents in a spirit of acceptance and high responsibility. RASMEI