There were years when the number of Cambodian tourists visiting Vietnam for tourism purposes reached nearly 1 million, and this is showing signs of increasing again after the pandemic. According to businesses, domestic tourism products still lack investment and promotion to welcome this influx of tourists.
Stay longer
Mr. Pham Ngoc Ha, Deputy General Director of Saco Travel, said that they are receiving a bustling number of visitors from the Cambodian market, especially on weekends. This group of visitors travel for the day mainly from three provinces bordering Tay Ninh.
Especially during the past 10 days of Vietnamese New Year, the number of Cambodian tourists coming to Vietnam was very large, this business had to mobilize all vehicles and personnel to serve tourists visiting pagodas and having fun in the Ba Den mountain area.
One problem is that the length of stay of this group of guests is not long, so with this market, businesses are currently mainly exploiting quantity and are gradually moving to the quality stage because the spending of this group of guests is mostly low-end, not many high-end groups.
Most Cambodian tourists come and go on the same day. Since the pandemic, the number of tourists staying 1-2 days has increased. Recently, the company has also served many groups with 4 days and 3 nights to visit Ho Chi Minh City.
"We have also recently organized a number of Cambodian tourist groups to go to Da Nang - Hoi An. They really like the scenery in Vietnam. In addition, destinations such as Da Lat and Phu Quoc are also popular with Cambodian tourists," said Mr. Ngoc Ha.
Passengers passing through Moc Bai international border gate (Tay Ninh province) have shown a good growth trend. Photo: Chau Tuan
Especially in Phu Quoc (Kien Giang), Cambodian tourists traveling by sea to Ha Tien border gate are very numerous. This group of tourists often prefer to use high-end services and have a longer stay than the average.
According to Mr. Truong Duc Hai - Director of Hon Ngoc Vien Dong Tourism Company, in the past, when building tour products to the Cambodian market, the company also organized a "counterflow" flow to bring customers from Cambodia to Vietnam, but the number of customers was very limited, so the tour could not be maintained.
However, in recent years, the flow of rich Cambodian tourists to Vietnam has gradually increased. They like Vietnam's coastal areas such as Vung Tau, Nha Trang..., and this demand is clearer than before. "If we look closely at the group of Cambodian tourists, most of them still come to Vietnam for the purpose of medical treatment. We do not have complete products for this type of tour," Mr. Hai regretted.
Reduce entry time, increase connections to welcome guests
Mr. Tran Quoc Thinh, director of the Tay Ninh Province Tourism Promotion Center, said the province has many advantages in welcoming Cambodian visitors as it borders three provinces of this country with three international border gates and 10 secondary border gates.
It can be seen that Cambodian tourists are also traditional visitors of the province when every holiday, a large number of visitors come here to have fun, visit, and visit temples. Ordinary tourists still come here to shop, visit Nui Ba, Thanh Pagoda, spirituality... And the trend after the pandemic is that Nui Ba is also invested in, so there are many new, unique products that attract Cambodian tourists who have money and are willing to spend a lot.
"Cambodian tourists to Vietnam come from many streams. First, there are visitors from border provinces. During festivals and weekends, they all go to Tay Ninh to travel and have fun. Second, there are rich visitors from big cities and provinces such as Phnom Penh, Sihanoukville, Siem Reap... families with money to travel and get medical treatment.
The third group is the group of tourists who travel for a long time, they go to Tay Ninh and then move to the West, then take a boat to Phu Quoc and then return to the country. The number of rich Cambodian tourists is increasing, not only coming here for medical treatment but also for sightseeing and shopping...", Mr. Thinh analyzed.
To welcome this influx of guests, local high-end accommodation facilities and restaurants are also investing and renovating to accommodate large groups of guests.
To attract more tourists from this country, travel companies have proposed that provinces bordering Cambodia create more favorable conditions for Cambodian tourists to enter Vietnam. Currently, according to the traditional method, a 45-seat passenger van usually takes nearly 2 hours to complete entry procedures, from checking luggage, number of people entering... to create more favorable conditions for tourists to enter the border gate by land.
In addition, a popular product is caravan tours, cross-border driving routes are also attracting tourists from both countries.
Mr. Truong Duc Hai said that currently, medical examination and treatment tours are 3-4 days long, or even longer, and are mainly organized and connected by some Cambodian people living in Ho Chi Minh City. There is no professional product line, while medical examination and treatment tourism products need to be organized more professionally.
"We need to connect with hospitals, with services specifically for this type of customer. Unfortunately, hospitals have not paid much attention, partly because many reputable hospitals are currently overloaded," said Mr. Pham Ngoc Ha.
Strengthening tourism promotion and linkage with Cambodia
The Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Tay Ninh province said that the number of visitors from Cambodia to Tay Ninh for tourism purposes from 2018 to now, although from 2020 to 2022 decreased sharply due to the pandemic, still reached about 2.1 million people. In the first quarter of 2023, there were signs of growth again.
The department said that, realizing the potential, since mid-2022, the department has organized a promotion program to expand the Tay Ninh tourism market with provinces and cities with developed tourism in Cambodia.
Representatives of businesses from the two countries pledged to coordinate in promoting potentials, cooperating or supporting the organization of activities to promote the tourism market of the two countries. At the same time, they will coordinate in researching solutions to stimulate tourism, researching and forming tourism products and routes.
