Global travel service provider Trip.com Group and Cambodia Angkor Air have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to improve the airline’s market reach worldwide, support a tourism talent training programme and improve digital services at Angkor International Airport currently under construction.

Trip.com Group vice president and CEO of the flight business group Yudong Tan and Cambodia Angkor Air chairman and CEO David Zhan jointly signed the MOU.

Trip.com Group will improve Angkor International Airport’s digital and intelligent services and help the airport become an essential smart airport in the region.

Cambodia Angkor Air said constructing the new Angkor International Airport was essential to Cambodia’s global tourism strategy.

“We hope to grasp the opportunity of global tourism revival and closely work with Trip.com Group to enhance services for more travellers”.

Trip.com Group COO Xing Xiong added: “The construction of the new Angkor International Airport and the global travel revival will present tremendous opportunities for tourism in Cambodia. We’re excited to collaborate with Cambodia Angkor Air to support Cambodia in achieving its full global market potential and linking it with the international tourism industry.”

The new Angkor International Airport in Cambodia will begin operations this October 2023, and forecasts passenger traffic will quickly reach 7 million and 10 million annually by 2030.

China is an important tourism source in Cambodia. In 2019, Cambodia welcomed 6.61 million foreign tourists, of which 2.362 million were Chinese tourists, accounting for about 36% of the annual total.

In 2023, the Cambodian government launched its “China Ready” strategy to attract more Chinese tourists. As of mid-May 2023, the number of users from the Chinese mainland searching for Cambodian tourism products on Ctrip, a Trip.com Group sub-brand, has increased by more than 233% compared with the same period last year.