Under the new name “Angkor Green Gardens”, the former Cambodian Cultural Village in Siem Reap has reopened, welcoming thousands of visitors for free until June 30.
Hang Vannak, the general manager of Angkor Green Gardens, told The Post: “We opened to allow tourists to visit Angkor Green Gardens on the holiday for the birthday of Her Majesty the Queen Mother. We attracted many guests on Saturday June 18, recording 7,720 visitors, with more than 13,018 on the Sunday.
“Over the two days of June 18-19, we did see foreign visitors, according to observations between two to five per cent, mostly foreigners living in Cambodia.”
He said on June 20 that Angkor Green Gardens continued to welcome a steady stream of visitors, although numbers naturally dropped slightly during the working and school week.
The reopening has been carried out by the large Cambodian hotel investment company, Dara Hotels, which has been studying a master plan for the development of Angkor Green Gardens, as well as focusing on the maintenance and renovation of attractions.
“Regarding the detailed plans, we are in the study phase, which requires an examination of the flow of visitors and the flow of the economy.
“The clean-up and renovations started in May, with us cleaning up as much as possible and bringing the gardens back to life. This was the first mission. We are now looking to develop other areas to offer tourists more options and attract more visitors,” Vannak said.
Located along National Road 6 in Kaksekam Village, the 21-hectare site consists of a wax museum and 12 villages based on Cambodian heritage.
Tourists can enjoy free entry to Angkor Green Gardens until the end of the month, with tickets set to go sale in July, its general manager said.
“After opening with free entry, we will from the beginning of July be selling tickets at very reasonable prices for both Cambodians and foreigners.
“We want to promote our tourism to attract more visitors because Siem Reap was very badly affected by the two-year Covid crisis, and we want to move on to enable our people to again have jobs and enjoy increased economic momentum,” Vannak said.
The Ministry of Tourism on June 20, 2022 revealed that 364,636 tourists domestic tourists travelled the country – with Siem Reap welcoming a total of 48,867 visitors – on the weekend of June 18-19, 2022, an increase of 11 .45 per cent on last weekend.
According to the ministry report, the number of visitors in Siem Reap increased significantly that weekend, especially with the opening of the Angkor Green Gardens, with the Apsara National Authority having launched the Angkor Botanical Garden on May 18.
The Cambodian Cultural Village Company announced the complete closure of its business from November 7, 2020 after it could not afford to pay costs due to the sharp decline in the number of tourists as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
