Chinese tourism a catalyst for nation’s real estate boom

Cambodia’s real estate sector growth is set to be pushed further through active efforts by the government to increase the number of Chinese tourists entering the kingdom. The second national forum on the “China Ready for Cambodia Tourism” policy initiative took place on October 31.

This white paper policy initiative aims to increase annual Chinese tourists visiting the kingdom by outlining the initial steps to be taken by the Ministry of Tourism to facilitate Chinese tourism, including encouraging the use of the yuan currency, tailoring food and accommodation choices and providing Chinese signage and documents for visa processing.

Cambodia tourism minister Thong Khon stressed the country’s aim is to attract two million Chinese tourists entering the kingdom annually by 2020.

Cambodia has welcomed 3.5 million foreign tourists in the first eight months of 2017, up 11.8 percent from the previous year, of which 742,586 were Chinese tourists.

According to the minister, this represents a 44 percent increase of Chinese tourists, which is great news for the kingdom’s economy – especially for the real estate sector, which is buoyed by the continual influx of Chinese investment.

Somnang Cheam, director of Lucky Property Service, commented on the effect of Chinese tourism on the real estate sector: “When more Chinese tourists arrive in Cambodia, the real estate market will be more robust, with land prices tending to rise in accordance with the demand for more residential developments, such as condos, hotels and guesthouses to meet the demand of rising Chinese tourists.” Ms Somnang further believes this will also have a positive effect on Cambodia’s economy in the form of more job creation for Cambodian workers in the construction sector.

Ms Somnang continues: “However, landlords with properties for rent and sale should be cautious with price setting. When there is more demand – especially from Chinese tourists who are looking for rooms for rent – landlords should not intentionally increase the price too high, which is affordable for the Chinese, but unaffordable for westerners or locals.”

Echoing Ms Somnang’s view, Hay Ravy, marketing and sales manager of Daily Realty Group, said: “More Chinese tourists will lead to demand for more land to build hotels, resorts and guesthouses, which means that land price surrounding key tourism hot spots will rise.”

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