Cambodia's visa-free trial sparks surge in flight searches from China

Searches for flights from major Chinese cities to Cambodia more than doubled after Cambodia announced that it would be implementing visa-free entry for Chinese citizens during a four-month trial period next year, Tongcheng Travel said on Wednesday.

Cambodia's government said in an official letter on Tuesday that it would implement a trial visa-free policy for Chinese citizens from June 15 to Oct 15 next year, according to Xinhua News Agency.

From Tuesday to Wednesday morning, searches for popular routes from China to Cambodia on Tongcheng Travel rose by more than 100 percent compared with the previous period, the company said.

Business and leisure travel demand between the two countries has been rising, Tongcheng Travel added. Since November, hotel bookings on its platform for Cambodian destinations, such as Phnom Penh, have climbed more than 60 percent year-on-year. With many Chinese workers in Cambodia set to return home at year-end, flights from Cambodia to cities including Chengdu, Nanning, and Guangzhou are expected to see a booking peak.

Cambodia received about 1 million Chinese visitors between January and October, according to data from Cambodia's Ministry of Tourism.

Tongcheng Research Institute said that the planned visa-free period coincides with China's summer travel peak and the National Day holiday. It expects travel enthusiasm for Cambodia during those periods next year to reach new heights.