Evaluating Cambodia's Tourism: A Strategic Management Perspective

This report evaluates Cambodia as a tourist destination, focusing on the reasons behind its perceived lack of success. It begins by examining the country's strategic management of tourism, highlighting the prioritization of natural and cultural tourism and the goals set for GDP contribution and job creation. The report then delves into the competitive advantages, such as relatively cheap hotel services, liberal visa policies, and cultural richness, while also acknowledging the diminishing advantages and infrastructural shortcomings. Key developmental issues are discussed, including environmental factors, economic disparities, low human capacity, and lack of effective regulations. The report concludes by emphasizing the need for sustainable tourism and ecotourism to address environmental and economic challenges, suggesting areas for improvement to boost the tourism sector. The report also references specific sources to support the arguments.

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

2CAMBODIA: AN UNSUCCESSFUL DESTINATION
attract and retain tourists in the country for more than a week. Further, the government has failed
to comply with the goals set by the destination management team. A lack of commercialization,
effective promotion and social media visibility have led the tourists to only rely on tour
companies and hotels; this recounts for the failure of the industry.
Competitive advantage
Given the rapidly diminishing competitive advantages, tourism is unlikely to be a
contributor to economic growth. The infrastructure of the railway stations and the terminals are a
big letdown, compared to the ones in the neighboring countries. However, the ministry of
Tourism are establishing development strategies for making Cambodia more appealing as a
tourist destination. The hotels of Cambodia is reported to offer quality services at cheap rates and
in terms of hospitality and safety, Cambodia has reasonable advantages. The visa policies of the
country is quite liberal, which attracts several tourists from all over the world. It takes minimal
formalities to enter and travel Cambodia. The cultural dynamism of the tourism sector of the
country caters to a wide range of international tourists belonging from different cultures (Carter
et a 2015). Additionally, the rich heritage of the country is an added benefit to the industry of
tourism, as it provides profitable opportunities for developing the sector. The hotel service and
the transportation sector of the country are quite competitive, which is highly favorable for
tourism as tourists are attracted to places that afford them the convenience of travelling and
lodging.
Developmental issues
Cambodia is a developing country that is prone to natural disasters. The tourism sector is
heavily dependent on environmental factors and the degradation that had occurred in the late 90s
continue to hinder the development of the tourist industry in the country. Economic disparity is

3CAMBODIA: AN UNSUCCESSFUL DESTINATION
instrumental in the development deficiency of the tourism industry (Cdc-crdb.gov.kh, 2018) .
The human capacity in both the private and the public sectors are considerably low and the
international funding is not tied to developing the infrastructure. A sustained growth in the
economy cannot be solely achieved by manpower and skill, the government is required to get
equally involved in the attempt to generate more revenue from the tourism industry. Apart from
environmental hazards which are indispensable, Cambodia also suffers from low education rate,
high population and lack of effective regulations; all of which are hindrances to the sectorial
development of the country. Moreover, the growth of tourism requires a strategic management of
social and human capital. Something neither the government nor the policy makers have so far
paid any attention to. The annual report on tourism suggest that Cambodia needs to focus on
sustainable tourism for recovering the loss. Ecotourism is a beneficial tool for environmental
conservations and economic development; and Cambodia is in dire need of both to make
progress in the tourism industry.

4CAMBODIA: AN UNSUCCESSFUL DESTINATION
REFERENCES:
B2B CAMBODiA. (2018). Cambodia’s New Tourism Marketing Strategy | B2B CAMBODiA.
[online] Available at: https://www.b2b-cambodia.com/articles/cambodias-tourism-marketing-
strategy/ [Accessed 12 Dec. 2018].
Carter, R.W., Thok, S., O’Rourke, V. and Pearce, T., 2015. Sustainable tourism and its use as a
development strategy in Cambodia: a systematic literature review. Journal of Sustainable
Tourism, 23(5), pp.797-818.
Cdc-crdb.gov.kh. (2018). COUNCIL FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF CAMBODIA (CDC).
[online] Available at:
http://www.cdc-crdb.gov.kh/cdc/socio_conomic/cambodia_development.htm [Accessed 12 Dec.
2018].
Nonthapot, S., 2016. Mediation between tourism contribution and economic growth in the
greater Mekong subregion. Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research, 21(2), pp.157-171.