Cambodia responds to coronavirus outbreak with temple ticket deals

Khmer Circle: 

With widespread corruption at every level of public institution, gate fees make little tangible difference to local infrastructure or lives. In fact, it would have been far more beneficial to the country and more pragmatic in the fiscal-political sense - as a way of bypassing corruption - to promote international tourism and its knock-on effects by keeping temple entrance fees to the barest minimum while using business tax revenue and other commercial spin-offs from tourism to improve and upgrade tourism and social services infrastructure. 

The overall effect and impact tourism has upon a local community and economy will always tend to outstrip that of the total volume collected from entrance charges which, in Cambodia's case, never goes further beyond officials' bank accounts and pockets anyway. 

There's a whole rage of factors that influence a traveler's decision, of which crises such as coronavirus is just one, but the host authorities and community will have to come up with a balanced approach that benefits both the visitors and locals alike.

In any case, don't wait for a pandemic to force your hands!

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CAMBODIA

Saturday, 07 Mar 2020

5:08 PM MYT

PHNOM PENH: Visitors to Cambodia's world-renowned temples are being offered special deals amid dwindling tourist numbers caused by the global spread of the Covid-19 (coronavirus) outbreak.

To boost dipping tourist numbers prompted by the virus outbreak, Cambodia is offering travellers extra days to explore the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Angkor Wat complex and surrounding temples for the same price.

Although at least one case of the Wuhan coronavirus has been confirmed in Cambodia, the country has tracked far less cases than other parts of Asia, such as China, South Korea and Japan.

A one-day ticket to the Angkor Archaeological Park in Cambodia’s Siem Reap province, priced at US$37, will be valid for a two-day visit now till June 25, according to a statement from Angkor Enterprise, which manages ticketing at the park.

Three-day passes, which cost US$62, will now be valid for five days in the park, while seven-day passes costing US$72, will be good for a 10-day visit.

The four-month park pass incentive was intended to facilitate tourism, a key sector in the small South-East Asian nation, and "ensure the attractiveness" of the temple complex amid the Covid-19 public health crisis, Angkor Enterprise said in the statement on Tuesday.

Park ticket sales dropped to about 222,000 tickets in January, down nearly 18% compared to the same month last year, according to Angkor Enterprise figures.

Visitors to the park from China, where Covid-19 was first detected in late December and the majority of infections and deaths have been reported, comprised nearly 40% of the 2.2 million total visitors in 2019.

In January, Chinese visitor numbers were down 35% from the same month last year, to about 71,000 people. As of Wednesday, the park has sold just about 108,000 tickets this month. - dpa/Asia News Network