Visa collaborates with Ministry of Tourism to accelerate tourism growth in Cambodia
09/11/2024
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Visa, a world leader in digital payments, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Ministry of Tourism in Cambodia today. As part of this collaboration, Visa is supporting the growth of tourism by offering data-driven insights, supporting workshops for industry partners, providing marketing expertise, facilitating financial and digital literacy for small businesses and merchants, and assisting in digital transformation.
To kick off this collaboration, Visa is amplifying the impact of data analytics on tourism strategy using its customized tool, Visa Destination Insights. This application, based on verified VisaNet transaction data, allows for real-time tracking of travel behaviors and trends, facilitating more precise and effective strategy decisions. This tool will support the Ministry’s ambitions in cultivating a data and digital-first tourism strategy.
Visa will also be advancing the acceleration of digital payments in the tourism sector, an effort already commenced by the National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) through the development of the Bakong Tourist App. According to NBC’s report, foreign tourists in the first half of 2024 injected an estimated $1.7 billion into the Cambodian economy.1
The MOU supports the strategic plan of Cambodia's Ministry of Tourism, initiated in August 2023, to bolster its tourism sector. This new tourism strategy and action plan, called “BUILD Plus 3Ds”, is set to propel tourism development in Cambodia, highlighting four pillars vital to the industry: cultural heritage, coastal tourism, eco-tourism, and Cambodian identity, with a special emphasis on coastal tourism to promote Cambodia's stunning coastline. The tourism sector, which contributed $1.14 billion in revenue and accounted for 12.4% of total employment in Cambodia in 2022, saw over 5.4 million international tourists in 2023. The Ministry of Tourism projects this figure to rise to 6.6 million in 2024.2
Mr. Arturo Planell, Group Country Manager, Regional Southeast Asia at Visa, said: “Visa is delighted to collaborate with the Ministry of Tourism to support the rapid growth of tourism in Cambodia. The Ministry’s leadership has been fundamental to tourism recovery in the country, and it’s an honor for Visa to help accelerate that effort. H.E. Prime Minister Hun Manet's recent announcement on revamping the Cambodia Tourism Board also encourages collaboration between the public and private sectors to enhance Cambodia's tourism promotion strategies. We look forward to collaborating closely with the Ministry of Tourism as they lead the next phase of development for this crucial economic growth driver for Cambodia.”
H.E. Sok Soken, Minister of Tourism, Cambodia, said: “We recognize Visa as a key partner in helping us build the necessary technological infrastructure to enhance our sector’s competitiveness. This collaboration will enable us to integrate world-class digital payment systems and leverage Visa’s comprehensive data capabilities to offer a seamless and advanced experience for tourists, while also empowering local businesses to adopt modern payment solutions. This, in turn, will foster greater economic participation and ensure that the benefits of tourism are widely distributed across our society. Together, we will create a more resilient, innovative, and inclusive tourism landscape that benefits not only our visitors but also our local communities and businesses. Our collaboration is not just a strategic alignment, it represents a shared vision for the long-term prosperity of Cambodia’s tourism industry.”
With the growing popularity of digital payment methods in Cambodia, more travelers are using their credit cards when visiting Cambodia. More than 60% of transactions made by tourists were done on credit cards, based on analysis by Visa Consulting & Analytics (VCA), Visa's payments advisory arm, using VisaNet data3.
Visa’s data also show that tourism related spending by tourists from China and India have increased significantly after the pandemic, which Visa hopes to drive faster growth to support the Ministry’s ‘Cambodia-China People-to-People Exchange Year' and the 'First Cambodia-India Tourism Year 2024'.
Visa partners with tourism boards in Southeast Asia to support their growth initiatives. In 2020, Visa and the Singapore Tourism Board inked a 3 year partnership on a joint research and analytics and marketing partnership. Visa has also collaborated with the Tourism Authority of Thailand to increase digital payment acceptance in Bangkok and five other cities, aiming to bolster the tourism sector.
Cambodia presents a plethora of opportunities for tourism growth, underpinned by a promising economic forecast of 6% GDP growth in 20244. This outlook is fueled by a resurgence in the country's tourism sector. Significant infrastructure improvements further underpin this growth, most notably the opening of the Siem Reap Angkor International Airport, completed in October 2023. This upgrade not only enables larger aircrafts to land, which significantly increases flight capacity, but also offers more direct flights to Siem Reap for international visitors.
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1 Swell in int’l tourist arrivals injects $1.7B into economy, https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501533204/swell-in-intl-tourist-arrivals-injects-1-7b-into-economy/
2 Report from the Ministry of Tourism, Cambodia, Mar 2024, https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501453920/2024-tourism-revival-is-positive-for-the-cambodian-property-sector-part-1/
3 VisaNet data tracking inbound tourism trends from April 2023 to March 2024.
4 NBC Predicts Healthier Economic Growth in 2024, https://eacnews.asia/home/details/30327.
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