Vouchers to Enjoy Holidays

KHMER TIMES
SOK CHAN



The government plans to create “cheque de vacances” or holiday vouchers by 2017 to encourage middle-income Cambodians to travel within the country, according to an official from the Ministry of Tourism yesterday.

Chhay Khunlong, deputy director-general of tourism at the ministry, said holiday vouchers will enable domestic tourists to travel within the country on a medium-budget tour package, adding that these vouchers had been used for a long time in France.

“Now we are studying with French experts and relevant stakeholders to create cheque de vacances for Cambodia,” he said.

Mr. Khunlong added that Cambodia is learning the cheque de vacances system from France and the ministry is creating regulations for this system. It will also establish a public enterprise to manage it, he said.

“We hope all regulations concerning cheque de vacances will be done by 2017, and after we have regulations we can run this system,” he added.

Mr. Khunlong said the ministry would not discuss the value of the holiday vouchers until regulations are in place, adding that the ministry needed support from private companies, hotels and restaurants.

“To have this system, we need companies, hotels and restaurants to be our members.”

He said that with holiday vouchers, customers would get discounts from hotels and restaurants and the system would encourage more local people to see their country.

Ho Vandy, president of World Express Tours and Travel, told Khmer Times that it would greatly encourage Cambodians to travel if the government creates holiday vouchers, but there needed to be cooperation between the government and private stakeholders.

Domestic tourists showed great potential to generate more income for the economy and benefit local tourism operators, he said, adding: “We congratulate the initiative and warmly support the government since it is to encourage and boost tourism.”

Prime Minister Hun Sen said in a letter celebrating World Tourism Day yesterday that the tourism sector was one of the country’s main revenue generators which helped catalyze development of the economy and contributed to boosting other sectors.

“The government has prioritized the tourism sector as the green gold since it not only generates job opportunities and boosts living standards, but it generates revenue for the country and draws more foreign direct investment and foreign exchange which contribute to social-economic development and poverty reduction,” he said.

Mr. Hun Sen added that the government not only planned to create holiday vouchers, but also officially announced the implementation of the World Tourist Organization’s global code of ethics for tourism and called on relevant stakeholders, including the private sector, community-based tour operators, tourists and development partners to widely implement it.