Kampot province will play host this year’s three-day Sea Festival from December 20-22. Photo supplied
Around half of Kampot province’s hotel rooms and guesthouses have already been booked for the three-day Sea Festival to be held next month.
The festival will be held from December 20-22 along Samdech Chuon Nath Street in Kampot province.
This is the second time that Kampot province will host it.
Kampot Provincial Department of Tourism chief Soy Synol told The Post on Sunday that most of the visitors are anticipated to come from Phnom Penh, with this year’s event expected to draw more guests than in 2015 – the last time the province hosted the festivities.
Official figures from the Ministry of Tourism said Kampot province welcomed some 300,000 national and international visitors for the festival in 2015.
In anticipation of the large number of visitors planning to participate in the upcoming festival, Synol said the authorities had done a lot of work to improve the province’s infrastructure and improve its cleanliness and aesthetics.
The ministry’s spokesman Tob Sopheak said he expected the upcoming Sea Festival to provide a boon to the province’s tourism sector and the Kingdom’s economic growth, with a large number of people overseas expected to hear about the celebrations.
“The Ministry of Tourism is urging guests to stay in homestays during the upcoming Sea Festival,” he said.
‘May be full’
Two Moons Hotel receptionist Sok Douch told The Post that all the rooms in his hotel had already been booked ahead of the festival “with prices rising about $5 higher than usual”.
Similarly, Makk Hotel receptionist and booking manager Math Lee said he anticipated being out of vacancies before the festival begins, with some 80 per cent of his hotel’s rooms already booked.
“The reservations will come in more frequently now [as the date for the festival draws near] and we may be full soon,” he said.
The annual Sea Festival, now in its eighth year, is held on a rotating basis in one of the Kingdom’s four coastal provinces including – Kampot, Kep, Preah Sihanouk and Koh Kong province – as a way to increase tourism and boost environmental awareness.
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