New Visas Aim to Increase Arrivals

In a bid to increase visitor numbers, the government has agreed to issue three-year multiple-entry visas to Chinese, South Korean and Japanese tourists later this year, Tourism Minister Thong Khon said yesterday. The new three-year multiple-entry visas for visitors from three of the Kingdom’s top markets for tourists will encourage them to visit Cambodia more often. “We have made this change because the government wants to provide tourists with incentives and make it easier for them to visit,” Mr. Khon said. “It shows that we care for tourists and we hope this encourages them to visit.

“Chinese, Korean and Japanese nationals can get visas valid for three years and they can stay here for 30 days per visit. But they can come here many different times,” Mr. Khon explained. Ho Vandy, an advisor to the Chamber of Commerce and president of World Express Tour and Travel, said the move would attract more visitors from the three countries. “It is important because they will spend more time and more money in Cambodia and it makes it easier for them to travel back and forth from Cambodia. It also saves time for tourists and it is an incentive for those who have not visited the Kingdom,” Mr. Vandy said.

He added that this move worked well in Malaysia, saying it had led to a rise in tourist arrivals there.Mr. Vandy noted that although the move would see the government lose money in visa fees, those working in the tourism sector would see their incomes rise and this would result in greater tax revenues for the government.

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