Brief Background of Cambodia

Cambodia is located in the heart mainland of Southeast Asia, which conjures images of a glorious and mysterious past and rich of the cultural heritages, particularly the worlds renowned ancient temple city whose magical image draws ever- increasingly tourists from all over the world. The divergent facets of the Kingdom provoke both the serious and casual traveler, generally charmed and sometimes bewildered by its mysteries.

Not only Angkor Wat, Bayon, Taprohm, Sandstone of ancient holy places, the giant roots of ancient trees, the graceful shapes of Apsaras and some temples buried in the jungle, hill tribes settled in the remote areas, colourful pagodas, strings of pristine islands and the century beach, as part of cultural tour that Cambodia is proud of her presentation, but also the splendor of the Khmer civilization and its people who have shown their friendliness everywhere you move in the country.

For most, Cambodia first conjures up the legendary Angkor that continues to admiration from Khmers and foreigners alike. The humanity and disaster of the nature have failed to compromise the awe of Angkor. The temples remain with an enigmatic grandeur, as a testimony to the Empire that symbolized the country at the present day.

They are the silent witnesses to the perennial cycles of life, which occur with each rainy season. The Kingdom emerges from its lethargy and springs back to life. Clouds, swollen with moisture, burst their monsoon rains to fill in the Tonle Sap (Great Lake) that bring over thousands tones of fresh water fishes.

Every year, the country is transformed in a nature cycle, which is unique to Cambodia. The flow of the mighty Mekong River swells until it forces the Tonle Sap to reverse its course, pushing up stream from the ancient capital. Every year, the reversal of the river is celebrated with the countrys most spectacular Water Festival in November. (Cambodia: The new land of smiles, nd)

Branding of Cambodia Target audience:

Here, we can categorize the target audience according to its demographic, such as age, employment status and occupation. A consumers age is often a strong determinant of their product choices and consumption practices. Income has long been an important variable for distinguishing market segments, sometimes reflected by employment status. Marketers commonly use income as a segmentation criterion, because they feel it is a strong indicator of the availability to pay. Occupation and employment status tend to be closely correlated in almost a cause-and-effect relationship. The analysis below is done based on personal observation and random interviews in Cambodia, but is subject to seasonal changes (ratio maybe different during summer holidays).

Age 0-10 11-20 21-30 31-40 41-50 51-60 61-70 71 and above x xx xxxxx xxxx xxx xxxxx xx x

Employment status Full- time Part-time Home duties Unemployed Retired Students x xxx xxxx xx xxxxx xxxx

Occupation Professional/manager White collar worke rs Skilled workers Farm owner Others (semi/unskilled) xxx xxxxx xxx xx

Key Publics: Tourist (Aged 21-30, 51-60 and 31-40; retired, home duties and students; white collar workers) The above mentioned group of people made up one of the key publics because, from the study trip to Cambodia, we were able to observe the similarities of the tourists who visit the place. Thus, we can conclude that they are the group of people that have bee n prioritized. In fact, the tourists are also the gatekeepers, sometimes correlated to opinion leadership. Opinion leadership (or word-of- mouth communications) is the process by which one person informally influences the actions or attitudes of others. The opinion leader, may become an opinion receiver when another product or service is brought up as part of the overall discussion. For example, a person shows photographs of his recent Kakadu holiday to a friend suggests that using a polarizing filter might produce better pictures of outdoor scenery. (Schiffman et al, 2005) Similarly, in this case, the tourists may go back to their hometown and spread word-of- mouth about Cambodia after the visiting.

Local (nation of Cambodia asset of the country) The local people in Cambodia are equivalent to employees of a corporation. They are the main asset in which the corporation relies on in order to carry out a certain policies. Also, employees have been called the organizations ambassadors.

Investor Another major component of keeping a corporations health and wealth is communicating with shareholders and prospective investors. The goal of investor relations is to combine the disciplines of communications and finance to accurately portray a companys prospects from an investment standpoint. (Wilcox & Cameron, 2009) In this case, the Cambodian

government categorized investor as their key publics in order to attract more funds into the country for further development and prosperity of the nations.

Overseas embassy These embassies are the one that could help Cambodian Government to promote its tourism industry to the people in different regions, around the world. Cambodian attempted to maintain a good relation with these embassies.

Consumer market:

Consumer market is generally made up of the tourists as they are the one consuming the tourism service. They purchase the service (paying all the fees incurred during their stay in Cambodia) for personal consumption. However, not all tourists are self- funded, as there is an accountable number of people who are funded by third party, be it the parents, institutions, or companies. From observation, the true consumer market revolves around people aged 30 and above as they are the ones who have the financial capability to consume such services, whereby those aged around 20 or below, are you usually students that are funded by their sponsors, mostly parents.

Promotion of Cambodia Unique Positioning: An awarding country

In 1992, UNESCO declared Angkor a World Heritage Site.

Cambodia was voted the worlds second favourite long- haul destination for British tourists at the 2009 Guardian, Observer and guardian.co.uk Travel Awards in the UK.

ConCERT a Siem Raep based organization that helps tourists support local worthy causes, has won the prestigious British Guild of Travel Writers Award for the Best Overseas Tourism Initiative. The award is given for the best new overseas tourism project, which not only has tourists potential but is of benefit to the local community and e nvironment.

Le Meridien Angkor was awarded the titles Cambodias Leading Hotel and Cambodias Leading Spa Resort, for third consecutive year at the 16 th World Travel Awards Regional Ceremony.

Lonely Planet has listed Cambodias Koh Kong province among its top-ten regions for 2010 in its Best in Travel 2010 publication. (Invest in Cambodia An Awarding Country, nd)

Competitive Advantage

In support of the tourism industry, Cambodian Government has launched e-Visa, which enables people from other countries to apply for a Cambodia tourist visa online. Instead of applying through Cambodian Embassy, the system allows us to complete the online application form and make payment via credit card, and Visa will be sent through email, which makes tourists life easier with minimal procedural issue. (Invest in Cambodia An Awarding Country, nd)

On top of that, expenses for tourists in Cambodia is co nsiderable cheap and affordable, mainly because of their cheap currency, which is 4000Riel=1USD (approximately). Also, the phenomenon might be a result of competitive life within the country, where majority of the people strive for survival, not to mention significant profits and luxurious life.

Potential of Cambodia Current consumer behavior Here, the consumer refers to tourists who pay to visit Cambodia. In general, a tourist behavior can be seen, through the way they select the places to visit, their needs and wants. In most cases, they are several standard factors that will affect a tourists attitude towards a place, and the urge to visit. For instance, attractions within the country, its political stability, crime rates, accessibility as well as cost.

Attractions within the country are the first thing that tourists look for, which is why we see so many foreign visitors at Angkor Wat. Accessibility is an issue that most tourists are concern of; in this case, the e-Visa system offered definitely contributed to the growth in tourism industry of Cambodia, as more people is visiting the country. Also, the affordable expenditure in Cambodia could be one of the factors why people choose to travel and shop there. The improvement in political stability has drawn drastic changes in the number of visitor.

Observation on the future The Cambodian tourism industry has been receiving loads of awards that boost its popularity and reputations. Tourist from all over the world is visiting this unique place, with aweso me ancient temples, that are worth to be studied. Policies such as having the Cambodia Angkor Airline, online visa and growing hospitality, will definitely attract more foreigners, regardless of tourist or investor aspect.

After more than a decade of spectacular growth, how can the tourism industry in Cambodia respond to the more de manding market conditions now faced by holiday destinations

worldwide? In common with all periods of adversity, the current situation also presents opportunities for those willing and able to respond to the challenges ahead.

Tourism has played an important role in the development of Cambodia. It has brought employment, improvements in infrastructure, training and general education and living standards for many people, and raised the international profile of Cambodia. Its growth has helped diversify economic activity, and broaden the base of foreign earnings, currently dominated by the garment industry.

But the tourism industry itself needs to diversify and mature. More needs to be done to both promote, and to support Cambodia as a holistic destination in its own right. In recent years the question taxing most industry players was how to increase the yield from each tourist: how to encourage the m to stay longer; how to add more value? These are the questions, the Cambodian Government, as a corporation should do research and satisfy with valid findings as well as recommendation.

Undoubtedly and quite rightly, any future Cambodian tourism experience is going to involve the Angkor temples. This World Heritage Site has driven tourism development and it has been relatively easy and inexpensive to improve the infrastructure around a small area of Siem Reap to produce world class, 5-star experiences. The problem is that it has been all too easy to develop the tourism industry around Angkor. A typical itinerary combines a few days in Siem Reap plus a visit to Phnom Penh with the whole trip maybe lasting less than a week, and often as an add on to a longer regional tour. (Horton, nd)

Recommendation Consumer Behaviour Perspective

Problem: How to expand tourism industry in Cambodia as a whole encourage tourists to stay longer, add value to their visits, and sustainable tourism?

Objective: 1. To achieve sustainable and equity in the tourism industry because the tourism focuses solely on Siem Raep and Phnom Penh, which leads to imbalance development across the country. 2. To add value to the tourism industry, ensure a more pleasant trip for visitors.

Recommendation: 1. Improvise on the country infrastructure and roads. In this new era, where most children are being pampered by their parents, they value the living environment highly. It will be tough to attract this new generation to visit the country if there is a slack in infrastructure. 2. Implementing longer tours, covering bigger component of the country. Covering bigger component of the country will tell the world Cambodia has more to be explored. No doubt short tours will be convenient for those who live busy life, but when it comes to maximizing satisfaction, the long tours will be better, because tourist can enjoy to the fullest. 3. Add value to the trips by offering more features; for exa mple, incorporate educational purposes with leisure, entertainment, as well as relaxation.

Adding value to the trip is like creating more reason for the potential tourists to come and visit Cambodia. The more things being offered, the more hype, excitement and enthusiasm it will create. 4. Developing more new tourists attractions on an environmentally sustainable way. This will indirectly expand the market of tourism industry. In a corporate way, developing new tourists attractions will be seen as development of new product, whereby environmentally sustainable way will be similar as product enhancement. 5. Strengthen the garments and retail industry to attract more tourist. Through observation of the buying pattern, majority of the tourist went there with the intention to buy silks, scarves, and clothing. Silk especially, seems like a must buy for most tourists due to its affordable price. Thus, the garment industry seems like complimentary goods towards the tourism industry. Improvement in garment and retail industries not only brings benefits for the industry itself, but in fact is complimenting the tourism industry. 6. Establish Cambodia as a Cultural/Historical Hub The Cambodian authority should consider establishing itself as a hub that compliments Tourism, and in most cases, cultures and history are the key components to be studied in each trip. Furthermore, Cambodia actually has the potential to evolve into such hub as they have this existing breathtaking cultures and significant history. Moreover, they already have places like Cultural Village, Killing Field, Genocide Museum and more places that carry such element, and so, they just need to develop or explore more.

Corporate Communication Perspective

Problem: How expand tourism industry in Cambodia as a whole?

Objective: 1. Building up good tourism identity. 2. Attract more investor and tourists. 3. To gain cooperation and supports of the local people.

Recommendation: Strategy: 1. Responsible tourism practices 2. Exposing the authoritys policy in developing the tourism sector 3. Communicate to the nation about the benefits of growth in tourism industry

Tactic: 1. Ecotourism Nationwide Campaign Ecotourism not only raise the countrys reputation, it will also enhance the locals life. The authority should enforce the ecotourism practice on everyone within the industry, to ensure optimum outcome. 2. International Tourism Convention Take initiative to host such event to show the world that Cambodia, is although small, but can be dynamic in practice and management. This will definitely create

international fame, which will attract more investor, because the ability to host a tourism convention simply means Cambodia has the distinctive tourism management. 3. Tourism incentives to local Create an incentive programme to reward or recognize the locals effort in developing the tourism industry in a harmony method. 4. Workshops To educate local people about the benefits of the growth in tourism industry, what they should do to contribute to sustainable tourism, and how can they do it in an environmentally friendly method.

PR tools: 1. Through events conferences, conventions, workshops, campaigns 2. Digital media weblogs, tourism websites 3. Mass media print (newspaper, posters, flyers), broadcast (Tv, radio station)

References

Cambodia: The new land of smiles. (n.d.) Retrieved October 5, 2010, from http://www.cambodianembassy.org.uk/index_main.php?lang=&menu=17&k=8

Horton M. (n.d.) Sustainable tourism: the importance of tourism to Cambodia's future economy. Retrieved October 5, 2010, from http://www.investincambodia.com/tourism.htm

Invest in Cambodia An Awarding Country. (n.d.) Retrieved October 5, 2010, from http://www.investincambodia.com/tourism.htm

Schiffman L., Bednall D., OCass A., Paladino A., & Kanuk L. (2005) Consumer Behaviour (3rd ed) Australia: Pearson Education

Vashisht K. (2005) A Practical Approach to Marketing Management. India: Atlantic

Wilcox D.L. & Cameron G.T. (2009) Public Relations: Strategies and tactics (9 th edition) US: Pearson Education

Appendix e-Visa

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation has launched e-Visa, which enables you to apply for a Cambodia tourist visa online. Instead of applying through Cambodian Embassy, all you need to do is to complete the online application form and pay with your credit card. After receiving your Visa through email, print it out and bring it along when you travel to Cambodia. For those who wish to apply Business Visa, K-Visa or Diplomatic Visa, please contact your nearest Cambodian Embassy for more information. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation is unable to accept applications from holders of Diplomatic Passports. Entry Type Fees Validity Length of Stay Processing Time Requirement Single entry only USD20 + USD5 (processing charge) 3 months (starting from the date of issue) 30 days (more) 3 business days A passport validity of more than six months balance at time of entry, a

recent passport-size photo in digital format (JPEG or PNG format), a valid credit card (Visa/MasterCard/American Express/Discover). Visa Exemption Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Vietnam Afghanistan, Algeria, Arab Saudi, Bangladesh, Iran, Iraq,

Countries not supported

Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Sudan (Please apply your Visa from your nearest embassy or on-arrival at all major checkpoints)

Cambodia Field Trip

Figure 1: The Ancient Temple Angkor Wat major tourist attraction of Cambodia

Figure 2: lifestyle of the locals occupation/source of income as a result of tourism industry

Figure 3: locals practice vendor surrounding the tourists who is willing to pluck money

Figure 4: musical performance attracts tourist

Figure 5: Tonle S ap Lake life on floating village tourist attraction

Figure 6: needy kids begging for tipping