Vietnam becomes favourite destination for Cambodian tourists

Visitors arrive at Moc Bai border gate in Tay Ninh province. Illustrative image (Photo: tuoitre.vn) 

Hanoi (VNA) – The number of Cambodian tourists coming to Vietnam has increased significantly, Tuoi tre (Youth) newspaper, citing statistics of travel agencies. 

It said previously, Cambodians visited Vietnam mainly for medical services, but over several recent years, the inflow of middle-class visitors from the neighbouring country to Vietnam for tourism purpose has been rising, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic was put under control.

The central beach city of Da Nang, the ancient town of Hoi An, Da Lat – the city of thousand flowers in the Central Highlands region, Nha Trang, Vung Tau and the “Paradise Pearl Island” of Phu Quoc are some of top favourite destinations among Cambodian tourists.

Tran Quoc Thinh, director of Tay Ninh province’s Tourism Promotion Centre said Cambodia is a traditional tourism market of Tay Ninh, which shares a 240-km border with Cambodia’s Svay Rieng, Prey Vieng and Tboung Khmum provinces. 

Cambodians regularly cross the border to Tay Ninh for sightseeing, shopping or visiting pagodas, especially on weekends or holidays, according to Thinh.  

The province has introduced many new, unique and interesting tourism products such as caravan and cross-border road tours in order to lure more Cambodian tourists. Local tourist accommodation establishments and restaurants are also improving service quality to serve big tourist groups with longer stay.

Statistics of Tay Ninh's Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism showed around 2.1 million Cambodians have visited the province for tourism purpose since 2018. Although the number dropped in 2020-2022 due to COVID-19 travel restriction, a rising trend was seen in the first quarter of 2023.

Truong Duc Hai, director of Indochina Pearl Travel, noted that while more middle-class Cambodians are choosing beach resorts in Vietnam for their holiday, demand for medical tours remains high but there are limited products designed specifically for this segment. Such tours are mainly organised by Cambodian people living in Ho Chi Minh, he said, adding that it is necessary to introduce more professional and comprehensive medical tour products to serve this group of tourists.

At a tourism promotion event held by Tay Ninh in mid-2022, businesses of the two countries had pledged to join hands to boost tourism promotion activities and build new routes and tours to stimulate tourism demand./.