Since becoming the new tourism minister, Huot Hak has stakeholders eager for his game plan to revitalize Cambodia’s tourism sector, still reeling from the COVID-19 pandemic.
On September 20, the National Assembly approved a cabinet reshuffle in which former tourism minister Sok Soken and former inspection minister Huot Hak swapped positions, marking the third tourism minister in two years.
The reshuffle follows ongoing scrutiny by tourism professionals and consultants over the struggling sector.
Soon after taking office, Hak—who has close familial ties with Prime Minister Hun Manet—met with officials in his ministry to discuss strategies for revitalizing the tourism sector and to build rapport. Although newly appointed, he is now leading the Cambodian delegation to Guangxi province, China for the China-ASEAN Expo Tourism Exhibition from September 26-29.
Hak will face a series of challenges as he develops policies to help Cambodia’s tourism industry recover from the lingering effects of the pandemic, including insufficient marketing efforts, limited air routes, and competition from neighboring countries with more attractive visa options, as cited by tourism experts.
But as the leadership shift occurs during the industry’s low season, tourism business owners are acutely aware of the drop in visitors compared to pre-pandemic years and view Hak’s appointment as little more than nominal.
While recent statistics show a slight rise in tourist arrivals compared to 2023, the industry’s path to recovery remains fraught.
In the first eight months of 2024, the number of international tourists visiting Cambodia increased by approximately 23% compared to the same period in 2023, rising from 3.32 million to 4.29 million, according to Top Sopheak, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Tourism.
“Domestic tourists totalled 11.31 million, which has increased 8.4 percent since the same time last year, ” he said. “We have seen that domestic tourism is better and international tourists are gradually coming back,”
While international visitors and domestic travel are gradually increasing according to Sopheak, they remain well below pre-pandemic levels and the slow recovery is hardly felt by those on the ground.
By comparison, 6.6 million international travelers visited Cambodia in 2019, as reported by the Tourism Ministry.
According to Angkor Enterprise, Angkor Pass sales—an indicator of tourism growth based on entrance tickets to Angkor Wat—amounted to $24.4 million up until June 30, 2024, significantly lower than the $55.7 million earned from 1.2 million foreign visitors during the same period in 2019.
In July, the slow tourism market forced 31 tour operators to close.
Around the same time, Prime Minister Hun Manet paid a visit to Siem Reap to reassure local hospitality and tourism professionals in the province.
“Our government can’t solve the problems at once like what our people want, but we try,” Manet said to a crowd in front of a museum in downtown Siem Reap .
Despite the tourism industry’s struggle under his leadership, former tourism minister Sok Soken received praise from the premier, who called him “young” but “highly capable.”
On the ground, however, optimism in new leadership remains cautious.
Kim Srey Pov, owner of a guesthouse in Siem Reap, has been operating a homestay business since 2019.
Srey Pov told CamboJA News that she has few foreign guests these days and mainly relies on weekend getaways from Cambodians to keep her business above ground.
“I think the new tourism minister will bring new concepts,” she said. “But no matter how capable he is, people’s livelihoods haven’t improved yet, and that might be the reason we still don’t have many travelers,” she said, referencing the impact of the pandemic on the global economy.
“A change in the ministry leadership doesn’t mean they [business owners] should wait and expect everything to improve. Instead, they must also focus on their own efforts and what they can achieve,” she added.
Mey Navy, another guesthouse owner in Mondulkiri since 2016, has not been as fortunate in attracting a backfill of Khmer guests.
“Before COVID, we had many guests, but now we have none. During festive months, the house used to be fully booked, but now it isn’t booked at all,” Navy said.
Navy hopes that as the new minister, Hak will propose effective solutions to attract more tourists, including more marketing campaigns to promote Mondulkiri province, as well as initiatives for price stabilization and cleanliness.
Ho Vandy, Chairman of the Council of the Cambodian Tourism Association, noted that another reason guesthouse owners such as Navy are acutely aware of the industry’s struggles is that it is currently the low season.
“From next month until February, we are expecting more tourists—international and domestic,” he said.
Vandy said he has no insight into potential policy changes or expectations under Hak, as the minister was appointed only recently.
Hak did not respond to CamboJA News’ messages and calls to his official Telegram channel.
Calls to Sok Soken’s office went unanswered as well.
