Tourism industry figures warn that online scams are damaging Cambodia’s image

The president of the Cambodia Tourism Association, named in the source as 蔡秀玲, recently said frequent online-scam incidents had damaged Cambodia’s tourism image and that international visitors’ willingness to travel to Cambodia had declined markedly because of safety concerns. She said: “Tourists’ foremost consideration is safety, and online scams are now seriously harming Cambodia’s tourism appeal.” The head of the Korean-language Tour Guides Association also expressed concern, saying that if South Korea restricted its citizens’ travel to Cambodia over safety issues, local guides’ livelihoods would suffer directly, particularly those serving Korean-speaking visitors. A Royal Academy of Cambodia economist named in the source as 洪万纳 said that if visitor numbers continued to fall, the effects would spread to hotels, restaurants, tour guides, resorts and related businesses, potentially causing a substantial decline in national tourism revenue. Compiled report by this station