Titre : The effects of covid-19 on the sport tourism sector in the main cities of Cambodia 

Auteurs : Leny Keo
, Miklos Banhidi,  

Revue : City and Tourism 

Numéro : Issue 1 

Volume : 2 

Date : 2023/10/30 

DOI : 10.21494/ISTE.OP.2023.1018 

ISSN : 2976-5897 

Résumé : Tourism has become the second-strongest industrial sector in Cambodia in 2018, and the number of tourists visiting the country has reached 6.2 million (Un & Lue, 2020). However, when the pandemic situation broke out, the government decided to close the borders for tourism. The main tourist destinations were forced to close tourist attractions such as museums, restaurants, sports clubs, and travel agencies that didn’t offer organized tours. Many tourist destinations, such as sports tourism sites have been suffering because of the lack of tourists. In the sector, a significant number of employees have lost their job. This study has focused on analyzing the effects of the pandemic situation on sport tourism services in Cambodia. The analysis was based on reviewing the changes in sports tourism elements, such as environmental changes, accessibility, becoming more complicated, and limited opportunities to attend sports events or participate in sports activities. It also analyzed how the Cambodian government reacted to the situation and how they supported initiatives to save the local tourism providers. A content analytic method was used mostly from governmental published sources for the general analysis. The perspectives of the visitors were analyzed by the feedback of travellers published on the international tourism homepages. The results stated that the tourism sector experienced an 80% drop in its international visitors and a loss of an estimated USD 5 billion in revenues. The travel restrictions significantly affected the tourism flow as of May 20th, 2020. Although the government introduced several projects to save this sector, still today’s recovery has not reached the number of tourists that came before Covid-19.But, the crisis presents an opportunity for the tourism sector through the improvement of its infrastructure and events. Sports tourism is becoming a lever for action and strategic support for the renewal of the Cambodia destination. 

Éditeur : ISTE OpenScience