Iran and Cambodia
Tourism infrastructure in Iran and Cambodia has several similarities and differences. The five factors of tourism include; accommodation, food and beverage services, entertainment and recreation services, travel services and transportation. These sectors are developed in both countries. However, a few differences exist. Some regions in the countryside of Cambodia are very poor such that the areas lack well developed basic infrastructure such as roads. By 2003, Iran had about six thousand hotels and lodges and sixty nine thousand restaurants that could cater for meals and accommodation for tourists. Transport is also well developed in Iran with several major roads and rails connecting to its neighboring countries.
Social-cultural differences exist between Iran and Cambodia that affect tourism planning in both destinations. For instance, Iran is a predominantly Islamic country while Cambodia is a mixture of religions with Buddhism being dominant. Although Iran has a rich cultural heritage, Christian tourists may prefer visiting Cambodia than visiting Iran since Cambodia has a mixture of religions. Recently, Iran had had a bad history of nuclear weapons production. This may deter tourists from visiting the nation as they fear for their lives. On the other hand, Cambodia had had a lot of internal disputes which resulted from protests, political divisions and cultural differences among the communities found in the country. This also can discourage tourists from planning visits to Cambodia.
Cambodia and Iran have very rich cultures that can draw inbound tourism. The countries are also endowed with good looking landscapes which provide good sceneries. Another thing one may notice is the encroachment of other religions in the two destinations. While Iran is predominated by Muslims and Cambodia by Buddhists, other religions have started to come up in the two countries which will be an encouragement to tourist's planning. As the tourism is developed in the two countries, peace and security are the most essential and fundamental incentives of tourism that need to be established in the two countries to encourage inbound tourism in future.
