Chinese influx pushing locals, Westerners out of Preah Sihanouk

Some within the Kingdom’s tourism industry have speculated that the recent influx of Chinese visitors may hinder domestic tourism as the price of accommodations in the coastal city of Sihanoukville continues to rise.

Preah Sihanouk province, which has become a hotbed for Chinese investment in the country, has seen huge leaps of growth in the manufacturing, tourism and gambling industries.

Its geography proves strategic as well for Beijing’s Belt and Road infrastructure push in Asia.

However, prices at hotels and restaurants seem to be rising, with some saying that Cambodians will soon not be able to afford it.

A hotel receptionist at Sihanoukville’s Golden Sand Hotel said room prices have risen slightly in the last year while the number of local visitors has fallen by more than 50 per cent. But he couldn’t say if the trend was due to price or other factors.

“I think the number of local tourists visiting Sihanoukville has fallen because they do not like the disorder caused by the Chinese. They don’t mind the price, but they walk out and say that the rooms are full of smoked cigarettes,” he said.

A report from the province’s tourism department obtained by The Post on Monday showed that in the first half of this year more than 1.3 million tourists stopped there. That number is up by more than 10 per cent from last year.

The report showed that more than one million of those visitors were domestic tourists, up 8.10 per cent year-on-year. Foreign tourists totalled almost 300,000, which was an increase of nearly 18 per cent from a year ago.

Chinese tourists led the group, making up 84,664 international tourists. Their numbers grew by 43.6 per cent over last year. Visitors from Vietnam, however, totalled just 20,000 and increased by only 3.3 per cent during the same period.

Driven to the outskirts

Additionally, the report showed that visitor numbers from Europe and America have fallen sharply.

Hang Reth, the manager of the Moonflower Bungalows, which is located on Sihanoukville’s Otres beach, claimed that few Chinese tourists came to his guesthouse. He said Westerners were still paying visits in order to get away from the crowds at the city’s centre.

He noted that there seemed to be more local visitors, however.

“I have received more local visitors unlike in the past. Domestic visitors come because they have difficulties finding a place to stay in the city centre."

“Because of the high cost of accommodations in the centre, local guests come to stay in guesthouses or hotels on the outskirts,” he said.

He blamed the city’s problems with waste collection, disorder and poor roads for the drop in Western and domestic visitors.

“I think the number of domestic tourists will continue to fall further in Sihanoukville,” he said.\

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