Over the evening coffee in Phnom Penh, people were busy scrolling through their phones. Word has been going around the streets lately that local banking giant KB PRASAC has teamed up with the Cambodia Tourism Board (CTB), signing an MoU to produce a micro-drama series called "Dare to Stay." Spanning 50 episodes, the show features a romance between Korean and local actors, showcasing Cambodia’s modern lifestyle of high-rises and scan-to-pay to a global audience.
According to local media, instead of sticking to the old tourism-video formula, the project is being handled by production house OMG Studios, targeting short-video platforms heavily used by young people like TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts. The plan is to build a local fanbase first before pushing out to South Korea, Southeast Asia, and the wider international market. The bank has made it clear they are stepping in as the "Proud Partner," cleverly weaving their digital banking and cashless payment tech into the plot to show viewers how easy it is to head out without even bringing a wallet.
If locals tune in, they will likely spot plenty of familiar teahouses, streets, and modern condominiums. A CTB official put it bluntly: they want to use this kind of relatable micro-drama to entice young travelers to book flights and fly over. Spend some time here, and you will notice that from old alleyways to new malls, digital payments have already woven themselves into everyday life. Riding the wave of this short-drama export is just another way to fuel the local tourism industry.
