Travel beyond Siem Reap

PHNOM PENH, 7 May 2013: Cambodia tourism’s is bottle necked in Siem Reap with very few visitors bothering to explore other destinations after they tick the Angkor Wat box.

Secretary of state Council of Ministers, Tek Reth Samrach, told local media late last week more information was needed on other destinations that could encourage visitors to Angkor Wat to explore the country in more detail.

“Siem Reap has the potential to receive up to 10 million tourists a year, so visits to surrounding areas should be encouraged.”

But most visitors to Siem Reap are unaware there is anything else to see except the ruined temples and cultural shows.

He added: “Today, tourists stay only one or two nights in Siem Reap, and they visit only the main temples of Angkor,” he said.

Visitors follow an imaginary line from the airport, to hotels on the main street of Siem Reap and then out to Angkor Wat and back. The tourism channel is probably no more than 300 metres wide and 12 km long; the rest of the town and vast number of temples in the historical park, beyond Angkor Wat, are largely ignored.

“Tourist length of stay could be expanded if there was  more information and it was easier to travel to attractions surrounding Siem Reap, such as Preah Vihear, Phnom Kulen, Khao Ke temple, Kampong Kdei bridge and the Roluos are,” the minister said.

The mention of Preah Vihear will interest tour operators who have always been keen to link Siem Reap to the temple perched on a mountainous ridge on a disputed border with Thailand.

It would benefit both Cambodia and Thailand if there was a practical route from Angkor Wat to Preah Vihear and then to temple ruins in Phimai in Northeast Thailand.

“We need more promotion, more information, and detailed tour packages targeting visitors who come to Siem Reap,” the council secretary said.

His statement acknowledges the growing realisation that Siem Reap is now the major gateway for tourism to the country, rather than Phnom Penh the capital and that a network of tours should be developed from the historical town.

Siem Reap will host the PATA Travel Mart in 2014, yet another indicator that the town will be the dominant force in the country’s tourism. In the past Phnom Penh was the preferred choice for large scale events such as the ASEAN Travel Mart.

According to Ministry of Tourism data, there were 2.06 million international trips to Siem Reap in 2012. Length of stay was 6.3 days in Cambodia, down from a decade high of 6.65 days in 2008.

The government-private sector working group on tourism co-chair, Ho Vandy, advised airlines to operate more routes to secondary destinations such as Ratanakkiri and Mondulkiri.

“Angkor Air and the soon-to-be-launched Cambodia Airlines should initiate domestic flights to these areas that usually entails at least a 10-hour drive from Phnom Penh so it is easier for tour operators to promote them,” he said.

Sourced: ttrweekly