Cambodia Trails ASEAN in Tourism Recovery as Arrivals Plummet

Cambodia has emerged as Southeast Asia’s biggest tourism underperformer, with international visitor arrivals plunging 47.8% year-on-year in the first five months of the year, even as most neighboring countries maintained growth or posted only marginal declines, in spite of geopolitical uncertainty and disruptions to global air travel. The Ministry of Tourism reported that Cambodia welcomed 1.54 million international visitors between January and May, down sharply from the 2.95 million recorded during the same period last year. The decline was driven largely by a collapse in land-border arrivals, which fell 67.5%, while air arrivals dropped a comparatively milder 19.8%. The downturn stands in stark contrast to the broader regional picture. According to tourism data compiled by Travel and Tour World, Vietnam recorded the strongest growth among major ASEAN destinations, receiving 10.6 million visitors, up 14.9% from a year earlier. Indonesia welcomed 6 million visitors, an increase of 7.7%, while Malaysia edged up 1% to 10.6 million arrivals. Thailand, Southeast Asia’s largest tourism market, experienced only a modest decline of 2.3%, receiving 13.8 million visitors, while Singapore slipped just 1.2% to 7 million arrivals. Cambodia, by comparison, recorded the region’s steepest contraction at 47.8%. The figures suggest Cambodia’s tourism sector has been hit by a combination of domestic border disruptions and global travel headwinds that have affected long-haul travel patterns. The ministry’s statistics show the sharpest collapse came from neighboring Thailand, traditionally Cambodia’s largest source market. “Thai arrivals plunged 96.2%, falling from 856,169 visitors during January-May 2025 to just 32,757 this year,” according to the ministry report. “Arrivals from Laos plunged 91.4%, while South Korea fell 59.9%. Visitors from Vietnam declined 25.9%, China 19%, France 16.5% and the UK 14.5%,” it added. The regional tourism landscape has been reshaped by the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, which disrupted one of the world’s busiest aviation corridors. Many European visitors travelling to Southeast Asia rely on Gulf carriers such as Emirates, Qatar Airways and Etihad Airways, transiting through major hubs including Dubai, Doha and Abu Dhabi before connecting to destinations in Southeast Asia. Following the outbreak of the conflict, airspace restrictions, flight cancellations and security concerns forced airlines to reroute services, reduced available seats and pushed up airfares on Europe-Asia routes. Although Gulf carriers have gradually restored operations, the disruption dampened long-haul demand during much of the first half of the year. The impact has been felt across Southeast Asia. Analysts say travellers have increasingly opted for shorter regional holidays instead of long-haul trips, prompting several ASEAN countries to intensify marketing campaigns targeting intra-Asian visitors while reducing reliance on Europe and the Middle East. Cambodia, however, appears to have benefited less from that regional pivot than its neighbours. Despite the collapse in international arrivals, domestic tourism remained resilient. The ministry reported that Cambodian domestic trips reached 20.3 million during the first five months of the year, representing a 54.2% increase from the same period in 2025, although foreign visitor trips within the country declined 14.5%. The figures suggest domestic travel has partially cushioned the tourism industry but has been insufficient to offset the loss of foreign visitors, whose spending generates significantly higher foreign exchange earnings. With Cambodia preparing for the traditional peak travel season later this year, the latest figures highlight the scale of the challenge facing the tourism sector as it seeks to regain competitiveness in an increasingly competitive Southeast Asian market while navigating ongoing geopolitical uncertainty and weaker long-haul demand. The tourism ministry is reportedly preparing to announce a new strategy, aimed at turning the decline around, in the near future.