Phnom Penh: Hopes are high that Cambodia’s long-awaited tourism re-start could be underway from November. Just over 70% of the country’s targeted population has been fully-vaccinated, meaning “herd immunity” is now not very far off. The tourism industry has been particularly hard hit by the pandemic, with international arrivals down 93% year-on-year across the first seven months of 2021, but it seems there’s light at the end of the tunnel.

Back in April, the Prime Minister signed a three-phase national tourism roadmap for 2021 to 2025. It also covered Siem Reap’s tourist strategies for a post-pandemic recovery. At the time, Minister of Tourism, Thong Khon, asked the Prime Minister to consider reopening the borders for vaccinated tourists by the end of the year.

The Ministry and private sector have since been working together towards that goal. Just last month, Hyatt Regency General Manager, Herman Kemp, who is part of the working group, told EAC News that November was the target date for a tourism restart, although a final decision would need to be made by the royal government.

The president of the Cambodia Association of Travel Agents, Chhay Sivlin, has called on the Kingdom to take hold of its vaccination progress and resume travel for vaccinated tourists. She has praised the country's efforts in fighting the pandemic, especially its vaccination rate, with Cambodia second only to Singapore in Southeast Asia. Her suggestion is also to start letting fully-vaccinated travellers in by November.