Bus fares boost travel

Low overland bus fares increased travel between Thailand, Laos and Cambodia by around 10% last year.
Cambodia’s Ministry of Tourism’s statistics department director, Kong Sophearak, told local media that cheaper bus tickets to neighbouring countries were encouraging more overland trips.
“They are travelling for holidays, business and even health checks in Vietnam and Thailand, using bus services,” he said. “Outbound travel increases are evidence that Cambodia’s standard of living is improving.”
Most of the new bus services between the three countries are part of efforts to prepare for the ASEAN Economic Community deadline in 2015, when countries are supposed to make it easier for citizens to travel and seek work in ASEAN-member countries.
“The less complicated the paperwork is between countries, the more people will be able to travel,” the government-private sector working group on tourism co-chairman Ho Vandy explained although there are still considerable restraints on work migrants even though AEC is supposed to introduce a liberal environment to seek work in neighbouring countrines.
Outbound trips by Cambodians in 2013 reached 871,646 increasing 10.0% from 792,398 in 2012.
On the inbound travel side, Cambodia grants visa exemption to Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia, member-nations of ASEAN and is cooperating with Thailand to offer a two-country visa applied for at embassy of the first point of entry. The latter is useful for citizens who need visas for both countries..

Sourced: ttrweekly