By Ky Soklim
Cambodge Soir Hebdo
Translated from French by Tola Ek
Click here to read the article in French
Representatives of the working group from the tourism private sector and officials from the ministry of Tourism will meet each other on Thursday 12 February, to stimulate a restart in tourist activities which were hit hard in 2008 from the worldwide economic crisis.
Ho Vandy, the former president of the Association of tourist agencies in Cambodia, declared that the private tourist sector will submit several proposals to the ministry, and that it hopes that the ministry will take them into serious consideration.
The private sector’s proposals mainly point to a lowering price of the “tourist package,” such as, lower cost for airfare, lower access fee to tourist sites managed by private companies, lower hotel cost, as well as lower visa fee. “We want to offer a special tourist package to face the crisis period,” Ho Vandy said. “If the government accepts it, we hope to pull up the tourist sector,” he indicated.
Since the crisis affected the tourist sector in Cambodia, people involved in this sector are complaining about a significant loss of revenue. Each year, Cambodia welcomes more than 2 million visitors who spend more than $1.4 billion. In 2008, the number of visitors increased only by 5%, this is much lower that the 17% growth recorded in 2007.
Ho Vandy, the former president of the Association of tourist agencies in Cambodia, declared that the private tourist sector will submit several proposals to the ministry, and that it hopes that the ministry will take them into serious consideration.
The private sector’s proposals mainly point to a lowering price of the “tourist package,” such as, lower cost for airfare, lower access fee to tourist sites managed by private companies, lower hotel cost, as well as lower visa fee. “We want to offer a special tourist package to face the crisis period,” Ho Vandy said. “If the government accepts it, we hope to pull up the tourist sector,” he indicated.
Since the crisis affected the tourist sector in Cambodia, people involved in this sector are complaining about a significant loss of revenue. Each year, Cambodia welcomes more than 2 million visitors who spend more than $1.4 billion. In 2008, the number of visitors increased only by 5%, this is much lower that the 17% growth recorded in 2007.
