An article published by the Nikkei Asian Review on September 8 sheds light on the serious challenges facing Cambodia's tourism industry. The country used to rely on Chinese tourists as the largest source of international tourists, but the threat of Chinese tourists due to their links to online fraud syndicates has tarnished Cambodia's reputation in the Chinese tourism market, posing a huge hurdle to the Cambodian government's efforts to revive tourism after the pandemic.
Before the pandemic, Chinese tourists were one of the most important sources of international tourists in Cambodia, and the government hopes to recreate this scenario. Cambodia's Ministry of Tourism has launched a tourism service quality certification program to improve the level of hotel and tourism services, while attracting 1 million Chinese tourists. Cambodia's tourism ministry also proposed in June this year to increase direct flights from China.
However, Cambodia, a highly tourism-dependent country, faces a major problem in attracting Chinese tourists, namely its association with online fraud syndicates that hurts its reputation. A recent film further exposed the problem, making the Chinese public more aware of Cambodia's dark side. Despite the Cambodian government's vow to crack down on online fraud, people familiar with the matter say many scam syndicates remain at large. Earlier this year, China eased restrictions on outbound tour groups, but few tourists travel to Cambodia, mostly for groups and business delegations.
Fraud rings from China and Southeast Asia are active in Cambodia, with a United Nations report released last month estimating billions of dollars in cyberfraud in Southeast Asia. The Chinese government has taken steps to conduct public campaigns to alert potential victims to human trafficking and scams. In an effort to crack down on online fraud rings, China has also stepped up censorship of Chinese citizens in Cambodia.
In the first seven months of this year, the number of inbound tourists to Cambodia was 3 million, compared to 3.8 million in 2019. Meanwhile, tourists from China account for only 10% of Cambodia's total arrivals, compared to nearly 40% in 2019. Thun Sinan, chairman of the Cambodia chapter of the Pacific Asia Travel Association, said the influx of Thai tourists may be related to trade or immigration and does not necessarily represent a real growth in tourism. As for the issue of online fraud, he believes that it could have a negative impact on the tourism industry, making people feel that Cambodia is not safe, which will lead to a decline in tourism revenue. Experts say Cambodia needs to take steps to improve its image to prevent further damage.