Tourists in Angkor Wat (Photo: AFP)By Win Thida, VOA Khmer
Phnom Penh
13 May 2008
[Editor's note: In the weeks leading into national polls, VOA Khmer will explore a wide number of election issues. The "Election Issues 2008" series will air stories on Tuesday and Wednesday, followed by a related "Hello VOA" guest on Thursday. This is the first in a two-part series examining the tourism boom.]
Cambodia’s tourism industry has seen an 18 percent jump since last year. More than 2 million people visited in 2007, bringing in more than $1 billion and creating as many as 250,000 jobs.
But the benefits are not balanced, and not even some families living close to Angkor Wat are reaping the rewards. It remains an open question how one boon to the economy will play out in July’s national election.
“Most tourism runs to Siem Reap, but not to other provinces,” said Pat Sambo, president of the Association of Tourist Services. “This means that the distribution of revenue from the tourism sector is not equal for everyone.”
Tourism is the second-leading industry in the country, behind garment exports, and a great bulk of it is supported by the Angkor temples.
Yet only 20 percent of the people in Siem Reap, at most, earn any money from toursim, Pat Sambo said.
“Even though some people live near the tourist sight, they don’t have any skills, so they cannot get any benefit,” said Koy Sang, director of Siem Reap’s department for the Ministry of Tourism.
With the benefit of tourism unequally spread, the Cambodian government must do more to prepare other destinations, and direct tourists there, said Moeung Son, president of the Eurasia Travel Agency.
But the need for more tourism development does not seem to be a political issue yet. No parties have put much tourism into their pre-campaign rhetoric, many voters saying they are concerned with inflation over voting.
Meanwhile, observers say with the swift growth of the industry, the number of people who work directly in the tourism industry may even be less inclined to vote, as they are preoccupied earning money each day.
Cambodia’s tourism industry has seen an 18 percent jump since last year. More than 2 million people visited in 2007, bringing in more than $1 billion and creating as many as 250,000 jobs.
But the benefits are not balanced, and not even some families living close to Angkor Wat are reaping the rewards. It remains an open question how one boon to the economy will play out in July’s national election.
“Most tourism runs to Siem Reap, but not to other provinces,” said Pat Sambo, president of the Association of Tourist Services. “This means that the distribution of revenue from the tourism sector is not equal for everyone.”
Tourism is the second-leading industry in the country, behind garment exports, and a great bulk of it is supported by the Angkor temples.
Yet only 20 percent of the people in Siem Reap, at most, earn any money from toursim, Pat Sambo said.
“Even though some people live near the tourist sight, they don’t have any skills, so they cannot get any benefit,” said Koy Sang, director of Siem Reap’s department for the Ministry of Tourism.
With the benefit of tourism unequally spread, the Cambodian government must do more to prepare other destinations, and direct tourists there, said Moeung Son, president of the Eurasia Travel Agency.
But the need for more tourism development does not seem to be a political issue yet. No parties have put much tourism into their pre-campaign rhetoric, many voters saying they are concerned with inflation over voting.
Meanwhile, observers say with the swift growth of the industry, the number of people who work directly in the tourism industry may even be less inclined to vote, as they are preoccupied earning money each day.
1 comment:
Scambodia: The Double Mystery of Angkor
Broadcast: 13/05/2008
Reporter: Eric Campbell
LEAD STORY
SERIES 17
EPISODE 35
Synopsis
At the height of its power, in the 12th century, the kingdom of Angkor controlled a large part of what is now Cambodia, Thailand, Burma, Laos and Vietnam.
The Angkor kings oversaw a building program between the 9th and 16th centuries that even today is breathtaking in scale and audacity.
Angkor Wat is the biggest and most famous of these monuments but hundreds of others also survived.
No-one can say definitively why Angkor collapsed and there have been many contradictory theories over the years. However current research, being carried out by a joint French-Australian-Cambodian team, gives a very strong clue.
Based at the University of Sydney, the Greater Angkor Project uses the latest technology such as radar remote-sensing data from NASA and aerial surveys using ultralights and helicopters.
The team has painstakingly compiled a detailed map which reveals that Angkor was the largest pre-industrial urban settlement known to man, stretching for over 1,000 square kilometres. It was the size of Los Angeles, and totally dependent on an elaborate irrigation scheme.
As Sydney University archaeologist Damien Evans explains to correspondent Eric Campbell, Angkor was a completely artificial landscape, stripped bare of forest cover and totally remodelled, even to the extent of moving entire rivers.
Apart from the question of why such a sophisticated civilisation died out, Campbell investigates another enduring mystery of modern day Cambodia � where does all the money go?
Eight years ago the rights to sell tickets to visit Angkor Wat and the other temples were sold off by the Cambodian government to a private businessman. Of the millions of dollars raked in from tourists only a small proportion comes back to the heritage park.
This is unfortunately typical of a country that is now judged to be one of the most corrupt in the world. Even some of the locals call it Scambodia.
Note : The reporter,Eric Cambell quoted :" Sok Kong is the King of Angkor".
Sacrava comment : This Bastard Xok Kong is the Top Criminal & Thief in Cambodia.Everyday he steals,robs & kills Khmer nation & Its People.He's one Yuon-Hanoi's Devil who is sucking Khmer-Blood to destroy Cambiodia & its People.
Post a Comment