Travel
• 2 hours ago• Lim_Rothanaksambath
Reviving Cambodia's Tourism: The Diplomat Proposes 7 Key Strategies
PHNOM PENH, July 9, 2026 – Cambodia's tourism industry is at a crossroads, according to a recent analysis in The Diplomat, which offers a roadmap for recovery as international arrivals continue to decline.
Peter J. Brongers, a former vice president of the Cambodia Tourism Federation and a PhD candidate at Paragon International University, points to a 47.8 percent drop in international visitors during the first five months of 2026 compared to the same period last year. The downturn, he argues, stems primarily from Cambodia's association with online scam centres and the unresolved border conflict with Thailand.
Yet the analysis presents a more nuanced picture. While land arrivals dropped sharply by 68 percent, air arrivals—a key driver of higher-value tourism—fell by only 20 percent. This suggests the real issue is not security, but the country's over-reliance on Angkor Wat as its singular attraction.
Brongers stresses that Cambodia needs a well-funded and independent tourism board similar to Thailand's TAT, which spends over US$140 million annually on global marketing. He proposes seven actionable strategies to turn the sector around: incentivising low-cost airlines to restore flight routes; creating Mekong River tourism packages; developing dark tourism around Khmer Rouge memorials; attracting digital nomads to Phnom Penh with special visas; promoting Khmer cuisine; preserving heritage architecture; and correcting safety misconceptions through media engagement.
"The product is already there," Brongers writes. "What decides the next decade is whether Cambodia funds the institution that turns its attractions into arrivals."
— Source: The Diplomat
Reported by The Khmer Daily Network
Peter J. Brongers, a former vice president of the Cambodia Tourism Federation and a PhD candidate at Paragon International University, points to a 47.8 percent drop in international visitors during the first five months of 2026 compared to the same period last year. The downturn, he argues, stems primarily from Cambodia's association with online scam centres and the unresolved border conflict with Thailand.
Yet the analysis presents a more nuanced picture. While land arrivals dropped sharply by 68 percent, air arrivals—a key driver of higher-value tourism—fell by only 20 percent. This suggests the real issue is not security, but the country's over-reliance on Angkor Wat as its singular attraction.
Brongers stresses that Cambodia needs a well-funded and independent tourism board similar to Thailand's TAT, which spends over US$140 million annually on global marketing. He proposes seven actionable strategies to turn the sector around: incentivising low-cost airlines to restore flight routes; creating Mekong River tourism packages; developing dark tourism around Khmer Rouge memorials; attracting digital nomads to Phnom Penh with special visas; promoting Khmer cuisine; preserving heritage architecture; and correcting safety misconceptions through media engagement.
"The product is already there," Brongers writes. "What decides the next decade is whether Cambodia funds the institution that turns its attractions into arrivals."
— Source: The Diplomat
Reported by The Khmer Daily Network