Sok Soken (sixth right), Minister of Tourism with Santo Darmosumarto (third left), Indonesian Ambassador to Cambodia and other officials in Phnom Penh. MoT
The Ministry of Tourism (MoT) reported 81,490 tourists from the Republic of Indonesia in the first half of this year, an increase of 21.5 percent compared to the same period in 2023 of which the Kingdom received only a sum of 63,970 Indonesian tourists.
Compared to the previous Tourism Statistics Report (TSR) of MoT, Cambodia welcomed a total of 67,671 tourists from Indonesia in the first five months of 2024, marking a rise of 17 percent.
Indonesia remains seventh among the top 10 tourism markets to Cambodia, a drop of one position compared to the tourism statistic in 2022 which stood at rank sixth with a total of 75,653 visitors, but the return of Indonesian tourists after the post-Covid marked an increase of 900 percent compared to the 8,410 tourists recorded during the pandemic in 2021.
Based on the latest report, Thailand stands at the top of the list followed by Vietnam, China, Lao PDR, the United States, Korea, France, Indonesia, the United Kingdom and Japan.
Although the TSP report didn’t mention specifically how Indonesian tourists travelled to Cambodia however, there is no better way for tourists from a country that consists of over 17,000 islands who want to visit Cambodia rather than using flights.
When Khmer Times asked about the obstacles for Indonesians to visit Cambodia, Ayub Yulianto, General Manager for Novotel Sihanoukville Holiday Resort said, “Accessibility seems to be one of the major issues as there is only direct flight between Jakarta and Phnom Penh.”
“Besides, the lack of marketing and promotion programmes on the Kingdom’s heritages also push the wonderful destinations of Cambodia to the corner, without acknowledgement,” he added.
The Director General emphasised that Indonesians like shopping in general, especially the younger generation as they like to explore adventure and nature, hence the Kingdom should invest in promoting its eco-tourism, food and agricultural products in one package.
Despite challenges that affected the world economic crisis and several conflicts that broke out in Europe and the Middle East, a former Indonesian Ambassador to Cambodia, Santo Darmosumarto, was called to return to office in October last year.
On February 13, the Ambassador led the delegation to meet with Sok Soken, Minister of Tourism, discussing the possibility of further strengthening tourism cooperation and creating more tourism activities that remained inactive due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
According to the official announcement Khmer Times obtained from the Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia in Phnom Penh, Santo underlined that Indonesia and Cambodia have historical ties and cultural similarities that need to be cultivated to promote tourist interaction.
He highlighted the important points underlined by Soken to work in synergy with the private sectors in the tourism industry while also expressing appreciation for the intention of the Royal Government in developing halal tourism.
“Indonesia is ready to share its expertise in the procedure of issuing halal certification,” he said.
The Indonesian Ambassador encouraged both countries to work together on a joint promotion programme. “For example, in developing shared stories to promote Borobudur dan-Angkor Wat,” he said.
During the meeting, the two dignitaries exchanged views and looked forward to deepening bilateral cooperation on tourism as both parties agreed that connectivity is crucial to the development of the sector, emphasising the need to establish more direct flights between Siem Reap and Bali provinces which are the two countries’ major tourism destinations.
Speaking to Khmer Times, Chhay Sivlin, President of the Cambodia Tourism Association (CATA) said, “Indonesia has a huge population of nearly 300 million people and the country is also known worldwide due to the two famous tourism destinations of Bali province and Borobudur temple, which are similar to Sihanoukville province and Angkor Wat temple.”
Sivlin said that every year millions of international tourists visiting Indonesia might also be interested in extending their trip to our nation. “Let’s be real, if we could only attract 10 percent of those tourists, we should not worry about tourist flow anymore,” she added.
Sivlin emphasised that the major concern is that our country only has four flights per week coming from this country. It would be better if the government could establish direct flights between Bali and Siem Reap or Phnom Penh.
It may be recalled that Prime Minister Hun Manet during a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the ASEAN-Australia Special Summit held in Melbourne on March 5, met Indonesian President Joko Widodo and reaffirmed the joint commitment to bolstering and boarding cooperation between the two nations.
Both leaders agreed to focus on the pivotal domains of diplomacy, economy, trade, tourism and food security cooperation which build on the high value of excellent bilateral cooperation over the past 65 years, pledging to tighten ties for common benefits.
Indonesia and Cambodia first enshrined mutual diplomatic relations by signing the Treaty of Friendship on February 13, 1959, marking the 65th anniversary of diplomatic relations.
Last year, 12,611 Cambodians visited Indonesia, a 173 percent surge from the previous year, while Indonesian tourists to the Kingdom from January to November in 2023 hit 116,020, a 70 percent increase compared to the same period last year as the two nations signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on tourism cooperation in 2022.
Dr Chey Tech, a socio-economic researcher, told Khmer Times that the major concerns of Indonesian tourists are related to direct flights between the two countries, as we do not have many flights and we all know that Indonesia is an archipelago country, so there is no other means to get there besides air transport.
“First is related to MoT and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MFAIC), especially the Royal Embassy of Cambodia in Indonesia, where economic diplomats can work with tourism officers to promote the Kingdom’s potential tourism destinations for greater understanding.
“Second, to create a product that attracts Indonesian tourists because they have a cultural tradition of ancient temples similar to our country,” he added.
The government has to make it easier for guests, such as accommodation, places of worship halal or dining, Indonesia is the largest Muslim country in the world, he said.
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