Cambodia goes for seaside airport, e-visa to propel tourism

By Satish G. | eTN Asia
Cambodia has approved plans for an international airport in the coastal city of Sihanoukville. The initiative is being part of plans to propel tourism. In another development, Cambodia has decided to offer visas on Internet for tourist's convenience. Foreigners wishing to visit Cambodia can now apply for visas on the Internet and do not have to visit Cambodia's embassies, according to a declaration of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Like other Cambodia's smaller airports that were once part of an extensive domestic network, the facility in Sihanoukville, 230 kilometers southwest of Phnom Penh, is closed. The government hopes to reopen it to domestic flights by the end of the year and later introduce international routes.

Soy Sokhan, an official with the state for civil aviation, shared that the rebuilt airport would be facilitate direct flights from neighboring countries, allowing visitors to head for the country's beaches and have a quick link to the Angkor temple town of Siem Reap.

There are also plans to reopen the airport in the northeastern town of Kratie, near a stretch of the Mekong river home to endangered Irrawaddy dolphins that Cambodia hopes to preserve as a tourist attraction.

Almost 1.5 million tourist arrivals were recorded in 2005, mostly from Asian countries, and the hope is for three million annually by 2010. As per the information available, last year, tourism earned Cambodia US$ 1 billion, of which 15 percent went to the state and the rest to the private sector.

The electronic visa or e-visa system enables foreign tourists to fill in necessary forms online to get a visa that is valid for three months from the issuance date and allows a stay of 30 days in the country. Tourists can use the Internet-based visa if they arrive and leave Cambodia through the Phnom Penh or Siem Reap airports. Scanned copies of the passport are required, as is payment by credit card.

Regarding visas among the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Cambodian Tourism Minister Lay Prahas said that the nations have been cooperating to end visa requirements for their citizens while traveling among member nations.

June 15, 2006   Posted in: Cambodia