Tourism: Preah Sihanouk unveils a 2026 2030 plan to revive Cambodia's coast
The Ministry of Tourism and the coastal province launched a five-year plan on September 14. It is meant to turn Sihanoukville into an upmarket destination for both leisure and business. The plan comes as international arrivals to Cambodia have almost halved since January. The coast is holding up better than the rest of the country.
Tourism Minister Huot Hak and Preah Sihanouk Governor Mang Sineth presided over the launch of the province's Tourism Development Plan 2026-2030 on Monday. The document is intended as a shared roadmap for ministries, local authorities, businesses and other players in the sector. Its purpose is to build new tourism products and draw more visitors, both Cambodian and foreign.
The government's goal is plain. Preah Sihanouk is to become a high-quality destination able to compete internationally, for business travel as well as leisure. According to the state news agency AKP, the province also intends to consolidate its position as the kingdom's second major urban centre after Phnom Penh.
Tourism development plan: Preah Sihanouk is the fifth target province
Preah Sihanouk is the fifth province covered by the Ministry of Tourism's planning initiative. Phnom Penh presented its own 2026-2030 plan on August 17. Kratie followed on September 7. Kampong Thom also has one, which positions it as a stopover between Angkor and the Tonle Sap. These plans follow on from the 2021-2025 cycle.
The approach barely changes from one province to the next. In both Phnom Penh and Kratie, the ceremony brought together around 300 participants: officials, operators, tourism communities and content creators. In Kratie, Huot Hak asked the province to build a recognisable brand identity and develop night-time activities to lengthen visitor stays. The same levers are back on the table in Sihanoukville.
Cambodia tourism: international arrivals in freefall
The timing is no coincidence. In the first half of 2026, Cambodia received 1.75 million foreign visitors, down from 3.36 million a year earlier. That is a fall of 47.9%. On August 4, speaking to around 150 industry representatives, the minister blamed negative publicity, online scam networks and friction on the Thai border.
The Thai market, once the largest source of visitors, has all but vanished. Between January and May, arrivals from Thailand dropped from 856,169 to 32,757, a decline of 96.2%. All land crossings between the two countries have been closed since late June 2025. Bangkok has set no date for reopening them.
Thailand does not explain everything. Excluding the Thai market, arrivals were still down about 28% over the first five months, according to an analysis published in July by Market Insider. Europe fell 23.9% over the same period, official figures show. Angkor is paying the price: foreign arrivals in Siem Reap dropped 31.9%.
Sihanoukville: the coast outperforms the national average
Preah Sihanouk has partly escaped the trend. In 2025, the province received 415,459 foreign visitors, up from 318,491 in 2024, an increase of 30%. Domestic visits held steady at 4.35 million. The typical visitor is therefore Cambodian: last year there were roughly ten domestic visitors for every foreign one.
2026 has extended that momentum on the international side. In the first quarter, foreign arrivals in the province rose 17.8% to 148,796, according to the ministry. Domestic visits, however, fell 14.6% to 1.2 million. Over the first five months, foreign arrivals were up 9.8%. Arrivals at Sihanouk International Airport more than doubled, albeit from a small base.
Expressway, deep-sea port, airport: the assets on show
Huot Hak stressed how quickly the province has changed, from roads and urban areas to beaches and public spaces. He named several landmarks that have become emblems of the city, including the statue of Preah Thong holding Neang Neak's scarf, the “Khmer Can Do” statue and the Water-Spouting Dragon.
The real shift lies in infrastructure. The 187-kilometre Phnom Penh-Sihanoukville Expressway, the country's first motorway, has cut the journey from the capital from more than five hours to under two. The deep-sea autonomous port is expanding its container terminal to reach a capacity of 2.6 million TEU a year by 2030.
The same port is receiving more cruise ships. The Costa Serena made its first call on February 4 with nearly 3,000 passengers. In the first five weeks of the year, sea arrivals reached 8,763. On March 5, the Norwegian Sun landed 1,831 passengers of 46 nationalities, including 1,075 Americans. The business remains highly seasonal: last year's published schedule showed no calls between May and September.
On the aviation side, the airport is run by Cambodia Airports, whose main shareholder is France's Vinci Airports. Its runway was extended to 3,300 metres in 2019 to handle wide-body aircraft. In 2024, Vinci announced a new terminal for 2026. New direct routes to China have opened, including Chengdu in January. The airport handled more than a million passengers in 2019, before the pandemic.
Koh Rong, the upmarket showcase
The plan also leans on the islands, marine biodiversity and Ream National Park. These assets open the way for coastal and island tourism, ecotourism and water sports. Koh Rong carries most of the ambitions. On June 5, the provincial investment promotion working group, chaired by Hean Sahib, an adviser to Prime Minister Hun Manet, reviewed a strategy to make the island a world-class destination focused on ecotourism, luxury and wellness.
Koh Rong City covers more than 11,300 hectares, with 61 kilometres of coastline, 43 of them sandy beaches. The island ranked ninth in a 2026 list of the world's 50 best beaches. A category 4C international airport has been under construction there since January 2024. Budgeted at $300 million, it is being built by Royal Group, which has held a 99-year lease to develop part of the island since 2008. Hean Sahib points to growing interest in Cambodia's islands from European visitors.
The island's development has a downside. It has led to land disputes with long-settled families, with flare-ups in 2018 and 2020 in particular.
Unfinished buildings: the legacy of the casino years
Statues and beaches are not enough to change the city's skyline. Sihanoukville is still marked by the half-built towers left behind when Chinese investors pulled out, first after the 2019 ban on online gambling and then during the pandemic. In January 2024, the government counted 362 suspended construction sites, needing $1.161 billion to complete, and 176 finished buildings standing unused.
Le programme spécial de promotion des investissements lancé le 31 janvier 2024 visait précisément ces immeubles. Il a été prolongé jusqu'en 2027. Selon Hean Sahib, 467 projets représentant 8,18 milliards de dollars ont bénéficié d'incitations entre 2024 et février 2026, dont 209 liés à des structures inachevées. La part de ces montants réellement investie reste inconnue, relevait en avril le média CamboJA News.
Les professionnels restent prudents. Chea Kimsea, responsable recherche chez Advantage Property Services, évoque encore environ 400 immeubles à l'arrêt dans le centre-ville. Il pointe deux obstacles : la qualité médiocre de nombreuses structures, bâties avec peu de contrôle, et la crise immobilière en Chine, d'où provient l'essentiel des capitaux.
La lutte contre les centres d'escroquerie en ligne pèse aussi sur l'économie locale. Depuis juillet 2025, environ 250 sites de fraude et plus de 90 casinos ont été fermés, dont beaucoup à Sihanoukville, selon les autorités. Ces complexes soutenaient les taux d'occupation des immeubles. Leur fermeture a provoqué une nouvelle vague de départs et une baisse de la demande. Pour Chea Kimsea, c'est la bonne direction, et le marché devra se recomposer autour d'une demande plus classique. L'accent mis par le ministre sur la sécurité et la sûreté se lit aussi à cette lumière.
Parc national de Ream : l'écotourisme sous pression
Le parc national de Ream, créé en 1995, est présenté comme un pilier de l'offre écotouristique. Il a pourtant beaucoup souffert. Le parc a perdu 5 490 hectares de forêt entre 2001 et 2021, selon les données satellitaires de Global Forest Watch reprises par le média environnemental Dialogue Earth. De vastes concessions y ont été attribuées à des promoteurs, notamment chinois, pour des projets de complexes hôteliers.
La province y teste d'autres formules. Un site de loisirs sur pontons flottants, avec activités nautiques et restauration d'inspiration européenne, a été inspecté en février par le ministre et le gouverneur dans le village de Smach Deng, à Ream. Il s'insère dans un paysage de criques et de mangroves. En ville, l'administration provinciale prépare une promenade côtière de 1,25 kilomètre entre la place Techo et la plage d'Ochheuteal. Le projet en est au stade de la conception.
Ce que le plan 2026-2030 devra démontrer
Le plan touristique s'inscrit dans un cadre plus large. Le schéma directeur baptisé « Vision 2038 » veut faire de Preah Sihanouk une zone économique spéciale modèle à vocation multiple. Il prévoit une porte d'entrée internationale pour la logistique et la finance, un pôle national de tourisme balnéaire et insulaire, et une métropole « verte et intelligente » de l'Asean. Sa première phase court jusqu'en 2028 et privilégie l'intégration de la province aux échanges régionaux.
Huot Hak a fixé des priorités concrètes. La province doit créer de nouveaux produits et améliorer la qualité du service, la propreté, la sécurité et la sûreté, pour suivre l'évolution des attentes des voyageurs et une concurrence régionale plus rude. Le ministre a aussi réclamé une coopération plus étroite entre l'État, le secteur privé, les partenaires au développement, les médias et les créateurs de contenus. Pour lui, le tourisme est un secteur interconnecté qui exige une action collective.
Le premier test viendra vite. Selon le calendrier publié l'an dernier, la saison des croisières reprend en octobre, avec une escale, puis deux en novembre et cinq en décembre.
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