Khmer Angkor Tour Guide Association (Katga) president Khieu Thy says the recent decline in foreign visitors to the Kingdom has had a significant impact on tour guides. Heng Chivoan
The Khmer Angkor Tour Guide Association (Katga) claims that zero-dollar tour services are not the main reason behind the decline in foreign visitors to Siem Reap province in the first half of this year, as such services are mostly for Chinese tourists.
The claim comes after Minister of Tourism Thong Khon recently called for the closure of zero-dollar tour providers, accusing them of damaging the Kingdom’s tourism sector.
Katga president Khieu Thy said during the launch ceremony for tour-guide booking app Guide Direk on Friday that the climate issue, public order in Siem Reap town, an increase in prices for tickets to the Angkor Archaeological Park and friendlier policies for Chinese visitors are the reasons for the decline.
“I think that zero-dollar tours are generally only for Chinese tourists. The stream of Chinese tourists to Cambodia is steadily [rising], but the number of Japanese, Korean, US and European tourists declined even though they do not use zero-dollar tour services.
“I understand that the ‘China-Ready’ strategy, or friendlier policies for Chinese guests, is cause for other tourists to feel annoyed and disappointed. [These policies] should be implemented for all nationals,” said Thy.
He said the decline in foreign visitors has had a significant impact on tour guides.
“The tour guide market is also down due to the dramatic fall in the number of foreign tourists to Cambodia this year,” he said, further claiming that some travel guides have been jobless for four to five months.
Tann Lom Ang, a marketing manager for the five-star Angkor Howard Hotel in Siem Reap town’s northwestern Sra Nge commune, said the number of foreign tourists had fallen sharply since the end of the Chinese New Year.
She said the hotel’s more than 200 rooms were often fully booked last year. But this year, less than 50 are booked daily.
“The guests said that [Cambodia] does not have enough direct flights as Vietnam and Thailand do. Also, obtaining visas on arrival at land border checkpoints is very difficult for them, due to the demand for informal payments,” said Lom Ang.
Pacific Asia Travel Association president Thourn Sinan previously told The Post that zero-dollar tour operators have been working in Cambodia for more than 10 years and that they had attracted foreign tourists.
