Cambodian headlines reporter Song Qing reported
Since April 2019, international tourists at Angkor Wat have dropped sharply, which has not only had a negative impact on the income of the country and local residents, the income of local tour guides has also been setback, and the development of Siem Reap's tourism industry has fallen into a trap. Signs of a "bottleneck".
Angkor Wat is peaceful and extraordinary
Tourism is one of the main industries in Cambodia's national income, and the most attractive tourist attraction is the United Nations World Cultural Heritage Angkor Wat in Siem Reapprovince. According to a report released by the Cambodian Ministry of Tourism, in the first seven months of 2019, Cambodia received more than 3.84 million international tourists, a year-on-year increase of 11.1%. However, the statistical report also pointed out that in the first seven months of this year, the number of international tourists visiting Angkor Wat in Siem Reap Province fell by 9.7% year-on-year.
Chinese tourists are still Cambodia’s largest source of tourists
According to a Chinese-speaking tour guide in Siem Reap Province, a Cambodian headline reporter revealed that since April this year, Angkor international tourists, especially Chinese tourists, have increased significantly. The degree has dropped by about 40% to 50%, causing a chain of negative impacts, including income setbacks for government visas, scenic spot tickets, hotels, restaurants, souvenir shops, local markets, tuk-tuk drivers, etc., and even some star hotels Restaurants and restaurants are facing a crisis. In the mild cases, they take the opportunity to repair and decorate or lay off employees. In the worst cases, they face closure or bankruptcy.
Tourists drop, many hotels are facing crisis
Siem Reap province bar streets are unable to attract repeat customers
Tourist drama tourist tuk-tuks are listless
At the same time, due to the interdependent relationship between tourists and tour guides, once Chinese tourists decline, Chinese tour guides will undoubtedly be affected. Since April this year, the income of Chinese tour guides has plummeted, and some tour guides are even facing unemployment. , especially the last few graduate tour guides. It is reported that many Chinese tour guides have been without tours for several months and have nothing to do. Once the economy cannot make ends meet and cannot support them, they are likely to be kicked out of the tour guide industry and find other jobs. According to statistics from the Chinese-speaking Tour Guides Association of Cambodia, there are currently more than 1,100 Chinese-speaking tour guides in Siem Reap Province, of which 826 (696 men and 130 women) are members of the Chinese-speaking Tour Guides Association of Cambodia.
No group is available, the tour guide looks at Angkor Wat alone.
According to statistics from the Ministry of Tourism, Cambodia’s 10 main source countries include: China, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, South Korea, the United States, Japan, Malaysia , the United Kingdom, and France, among which China is still Cambodia’s largest source of tourists. In the first seven months, Chinese tourists reached 1.501 million, a year-on-year increase of 37%. According to statistics, in the first half of this year, Chinese tourists spent more than 840 million US dollars in Cambodia, ranking first alone. Cambodia is expected to receive 2.6 million Chinese tourists in 2019, 3 million in 2020, and 8 million in 2030.
However, the sharp drop in Chinese tourists visiting Angkor in the second and third quarters of this year has made the Ministry of Tourism aware of the risks that the decline in international tourists poses to the country's income and people's livelihood. Cambodian Tourism Minister Tang Kun attributed the decline in international tourists to the "zero tour fee" model created by travel agencies to attract tourists, which has seriously damaged the development of Cambodia's tourism industry.
Passengers arrive on quiet roads, and all industries in Siem Reap Province are affected.
However, the reporter learned about the feedback of Chinese tourists on Cambodian tourism through tour guides. The tourism products in Siem Reap Province are too monotonous, except for Great Angkor, Little Angkor and Dabu. Apart from Wat Luang, there are no other more attractive attractions in Siem Reap Province. In addition, tour guides and Chinese tourists have reported that the roads in Siem Reap Province, except for Highway 6, are damaged to varying degrees, causing extremely inconvenient transportation. There are various signs that the development of tourism in Siem Reap Province has reached a bottleneck, and a single tourism product alone cannot attract repeat customers. Tourists need more attractive diversified tourism products. Continuously optimizing the quality of tourism services, strengthening tourism infrastructure construction, improving tourism transportation, strengthening tourism product innovation, and continuously expanding tourism publicity and other strategic measures are good ways to attract new and repeat tourists.
The roads in Siem Reap Province are annoying to tourists
It should be mentioned that according to statistics, in 2018, the ticket revenue of Angkor Wat reached US$116.64 million, an increase of 8% year-on-year in 2017. Angkor Wat is the largest tourist attraction in Siem Reap Province. It is even Cambodia’s largest source of tourism revenue and the economic lifeline of Siem Reap Province.
