Cambodia: An Unsuccessful Destination

Running Head: CAMBODIA: AN UNSUCCESSFUL DESTINATION
Cambodia: An Unsuccessful Destination
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1CAMBODIA: AN UNSUCCESSFUL DESTINATION
Introduction
The paper aims to evaluate Cambodia as a tourist destination. To identify the reasons
behind the failure of the country in the sector of tourism, the paper discusses the strategic
management, competitive advantage development issues in the tourism industry. The paper
concludes with suggestions that would help the sector develop in the future.
Strategic management
The destination management strategy of Cambodia makes natural and cultural tourism its
top priority. The industry of tourism is deemed as one of the top ten priority sectors in the socio-
economic development of the country. The aim of the strategic destination management is to
secure a minimum of 12% of the total GDP earned by the country (B2B CAMBODiA, 2018).
The management also aims at creating jobs in the market and enforcing sustainable tourism to
help mitigate climate change and alleviate poverty. The strategic directions formulated by the
policy makers of the tourism industry include marketing and promotion, capacity development,
facilitation of travel and transportation, management mechanism of the legal system, and a safety
system. The central objective is to zone out the tourism areas and include more destinations in
the catalogue of tourist spots.
The strategies, no matter how potent and effective, have not been executed in the right
ways and Cambodia, as a tourist spot, remains to be an unsuccessful destination. Lack of proper
and effective marketing strategies could be the primary reason for the failure (Nonthapot, 2016).
A look into the details of Cambodia’s history reveals that the country has not maintained the
international relationships required for building a sound industry in tourism. Development
planners are of the opinion that the tourism industry of the country has failed to market and
promote alternative; destinations; this is precisely why it is becoming increasingly difficult to