Cambodia to re-open to international travellers

Foreign tourists will soon roam Cambodia's ancient Angkor Wat temples once again, after officials on Tuesday flagged a partial reopening to vaccinated travellers.

The coronavirus pandemic and travel restrictions put the brakes on Cambodia's burgeoning tourism industry -- revenue plummeted to $1 billion last year, down from nearly $5 billion in 2019 when the country attracted 6.6 million visitors.

The Cambodian Tourism Ministry on Tuesday announced a Nov 30 reopening for popular beach spots Sihanoukville and the island of Koh Rong, as well as Dara Sakor -- a Chinese-developed resort zone.

The northern city of Siem Reap -- gateway to the world heritage-listed Angkor Wat complex -- will be added to the kingdom's hotel quarantine-free travel scheme in January.

More than 2 million visitors wandered the archaeological park in 2019, but the world-famous attraction has been mostly deserted since the pandemic took hold.

Foreign travellers will require certificates showing they have been double-vaccinated, health insurance covering treatment for Covid-19, and negative swab tests prior to departure and upon arrival in the country, the tourism ministry said.

Tourists must remain for a minimum of five days at the pilot locations and undergo a further swab test before being allowed to explore other parts of Cambodia.

The kingdom was spared the worst of the pandemic in 2020 but has registered the lion's share of its 118,000 infections since April.

The Southeast Asian country won praise for its swift vaccination programme -- 96% of the adult population is fully jabbed.

Cambodia's tourism reboot has taken some inspiration from neighbouring Thailand's "Phuket sandbox" hotel quarantine-free travel scheme which kicked off in July, attracting more than 56,000 international arrivals to the island.

Source - Bangkok Post

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Visitors vanish from Asia's most visited sites

As dawn breaks the unmistakable tapered towers of Angkor Wat emerge from the gloom - but for once there are no tourists jostling on its steps to capture Cambodia's most famous sunrise.

Asia's most Instagrammable sites - temples, promenades, shopping streets,

museums and mausoleums - are empty, victims of a virus keeping visitors at home.

The usual crowds have evaporated from Sensoji temple in Tokyo to Shanghai's Bund; abandoning the viewpoint at The Peak in Hong Kong and alleviating the pedestrian crush along Sydney Harbour.

Many of the now vanished visitors are from China - a country whose travelers have completely reshaped the tourist economies of Asia over the last few years, yet where only around 10 percent of the population hold passports.

At the Angkor Wat complex, a 12th century marvel of Khmer architecture whose unique crenellations and reliefs lure millions each year, high season has brought the lowest number of tourists on record.

Chinese-speaking Cambodian guide Hor Sophea has not taken any tours since late January. Several weeks on, money is getting tight.

"I've never seen so few tourists," said the 36-year, gesturing at the large moat inside the Angkor Wat complex, whose gangways normally bustle with selfie-taking hordes but are now empty.

"I am very worried... I don't know how much longer we can carry on like this."

The Angkor complex in Siem Reap province attracts the bulk of the kingdom's foreign tourists -- which hit a record 6.6 million in 2019, nearly half of whom were from China.

But the outbreak of the coronavirus has withered Chinese tourist arrivals by 90 percent.

Prime Minister Hun Sen has announced tax breaks for hotels and guesthouses in Siem Reap for four months to offset the losses.

But the discovery on Saturday of the first Cambodian with the infection - in Siem Reap - is likely to cement the stay-at-home mentality among many travelers.

The economic impact is also cascading across Asia.

In Bali, piers once bristling with arrivals from China are now decorated with moored boats, while in Tokyo the slump in mainland visitors - as well as South Koreans - is hammering restaurants in tourist areas.

At the Tsukiji fish market some restaurants say their take is nearly 70 percent down.

"People stopped coming from China during the Lunar New Year... the streets and shops around here are near-empty," Hiroshi Oya, 61, a cook at a Japanese seafood restaurant told AFP.

"Then South Koreans stopped coming too. The tuna shop next to us decided to close temporarily to avoid running costs," he added.

But for those who are inured to the panic gripping the globe and choose to navigate travel restrictions and the morass of quarantine, a rare privilege of empty sites is their reward.

At the Angkor complex, even Ta Prohm -- the 'Tomb Raider Temple' famed for its embrace by giant tree roots and a Hollywood film franchise -- has only a smattering of visitors each day.

"We're very very lucky. Covid-19 has probably done us a favor," Australian tourist Andres Medenis, who came for sunrise at Angkor Wat, told AFP.

"But the economy is going to be really affected by that... so I feel sorry for the local people." 

The JakartPost

#Cambodia to ban elephant rides at Angkor temples

Cambodia will ban all elephant rides at the country's famed Angkor temple park by early next year, an official said Friday, a rare win for conservationists who have long decried the popular practice as cruel.

The Angkor archaeological complex in northern Siem Reap attracts the bulk of the kingdom's foreign tourists -- which topped six million in 2018 -- and many opt for elephants rides around the ancient temples.

But these rides "will end by the start of 2020", said Long Kosal, a spokesman with the Apsara Authority, which manages the park.

"Using elephants for business is not appropriate anymore," he told AFP, adding that some of the animals were "already old".

 

So far, five of the 14 working elephants have been transferred to a community forest about 40 kilometres (25 miles) away from the temples.

"They will live out their natural lives there," Kosal said.

The company that owns the elephants will continue to look after them, he added.

Cambodia has long come under fire from animal rights groups for ubiquitous elephant rides on offer for tourists, also seen in neighboring Thailand, Vietnam and Laos. 

The elephants are broken in during training and rights groups have accused handlers of overworking them.

In 2016, a female elephant died by the roadside after carrying tourists around the Angkor Wat temple complex in severely hot weather.

The animal had been working for around 45 minutes before she collapsed.

Source - TheJakartaPost

#Cambodia - Authorities pump water into Angkor Wat complex

A current hot spell has led to the Angkor waterways drying up.

The Apsara Authority is pumping water into the moat and ponds at Angkor Wat during the current dry spell.

Apsara spokesman Long Kosal yesterday said that Cambodia is being affected by the El Nino phenomenon which is causing extremely hot weather leading to severe water loss due to evaporation. He said this has seriously impacted water management in the Angkor area.

“Groundwater and surface water is very important to maintain the beauty and environment in the Angkor area, especially Angkor Wat temple,” he said. “So to maintain the right level of water in the moat and ponds around Angkor Wat temple requires proper water management.

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Mr Kosal said the authority is pumping water into the southern pond at Angkor Wat to maintain its water level and will do so for the northern pond after current archaeological work in it are complete.

“We are pumping water from Siem Reap river which is the only major source of supply for the Angkor area,” he added.

Phoeun Sokhim, deputy director of the Department of Water Management at the Apsara Authority, yesterday said that the moat surrounding Angkor Wat is losing more than 10,000 cubic meters per day due to evaporation and into the ground.

“Although the water evaporation is high, it does not affect the level of water in the Angkor Wat moat, because the moat contains more than one million cubic meters of water which is maintained through regular pumping,” he said.

Mr Sokhim noted that the Apsara Authority has also restored an ancient waterway system to help water flow from the Angkor Thom moat to maintain the water level in Angkor Wat moat.

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He added that Apsara Authority is also regularly cooperating with the Siem Reap Water Supply Authority to manage the amount of underground water being pumped to address shortage in the area.

Mr Sokhim said any excessive pumping of underground water can impact the soil which poses a risk to conservation of temples in the Angkor area.

Kol Putra, a tourist guide at the Angkor area, yesterday said he supports the Apsara Authority’s actions to maintain the water balance in the Angkor Wat moat.

Mr Sokhim noted that the Apsara Authority has also restored an ancient waterway system to help water flow from the Angkor Thom moat to maintain the water level in Angkor Wat moat.

Source - Khmer Times

Myanmar - Cambodia, Angkor Wat, Bagan to be tourist sister cities

 

 As part of the ‘two countries, one destination’ campaign, the Myanmar and Cambodia tourism ministers will ink a Memorandum of Agreement to tie Angkor Wat and the Bagan Cultural City, said U Kyaw Swa Min, a member of Working Group Committee for Angkor-Bagan tourism cooperation.

He told The Myanmar Times the agreement will be signed at the ASEAN Tourism Forum in 2018.

“We will negotiate a bilateral agreement for an Angkor-Bagan tourism integration plan between us before the MoA is signed by the two ministers,” he said.

U Kyaw Swa Min said the working group committee, led by the deputy directors general of the tourism ministries of both sides, are working out details on how to integrate a tourism package for Angkor and Bagan.

“Angkor Wat and Bagan are similar in natural features and were founded in the same century. They are also quite unique, and that is why we grouped them for development as one destination,” U Kyaw Swa Min said.

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Currently Nyaung-U airport cannot receive foreign flights because it is a domestic airport. Tourists have to take a flight via Yangon or Mandalay international airports to get to Bagan.

Tourists cannot fly directly to and from Angkor Wat and on to Bagan from Nyaung-U airport now because it does not have enough staff.

“Even regular flights from regional countries cannot be accommodated unless they upgrade the facilities at Nyaung-U airport,” U Kyaw Swa Min said.

Nyaung-U airport is being including as part of the ancient archaeology zone that needs to pass a heritage impact assessment before being allowed to be upgraded, according to the Department of Archaeology, National Museum and Library in Bagan.

U Aung Aung Kyaw, director of the department said, ”We have to do a heritage impact assessment but it will be done by aviation experts. We need to do this because there will be many types of aircraft landing and taking off.

“We also do not know what ancient structures are present underground.”

The Department of Civil Aviation, (DCA) can allow international flights with aircraft capacity limitations but this needs to be approved by the Immigration Department for visa regulation purposes, U Ye Htut Aung, deputy director general of DCA, said in a previous interview with The Myanmar Times.

Almost 300,000 tourists visit Bagan yearly.

There are three ways to reach the destination -- by car, plane and water (river cruise). And all foreigners have to pay a K25,000 fee to enter the ancient archaeology zone.

Daw Khin Moh Moh Aung, a local resident, said, ”We welcome whatever they decide that it is good and beneficial for our regional development.

“But one thing to consider before they do anything is security, which is very important, not only for local people but also for tourists, because we want to be happy no matter who comes to visit our land.

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