I did PP-SR by road yesterday. I was surprised how busy the road was between Skun and Kampong Thom. It needs dualling on that stretch now as so many slow vehicles and too much oncming traffic. I'd go back to flying if the fare was reasonable and the airport was still near town. The new airport is exactly one hour from town and involves a very busy stretch of NR6 from Roka Kambot to SR (also needs dualling).
SR is back to full on supply - hotels , tourist shops and stalls all look fully open. Not rnough demand but many Indian tourists. Shows that you don't need direct flights for them to come. After all the lack of direct flights did not stop tourists coming from USA, Australia, Europe.
Getting good hotels for $25 including breakfast.
Sidewalks pleasantly walkable.

canucklhead wrote: ↑Fri Nov 03, 2023 12:21 pm Is the old airport open for domestic use?

Nope

From talking to people working in SR, their main ambition is to promote tourism by the abolition of the visa fee for short stayers and a reduction in the visit fee for the Angkor Wat park.

They get that China is not permitting its people to come so they are focussed on the other markets. In any case they know that the non-Chinese market sector is more able to grow in the absence of the other sector so they are not too upset about the lack of Chinese. They also feel they earn better from the non-Chinese sector, due to the zero dollar tours factor.

They believe that there will ultimately be a lot of development to serve the Chinese market near the new airport, including shopping and possibly casinos. A previous plan for an "integrated resort" (aka casino) in SR had to be abandoned about 5 years ago as it was incompatible with the sacred nature of the area. The new airport may be far enough away from AW for a casino to be permitted.

SR is looking very good with its functioning sidewalks and smartness abounds. There is just too much supply of everything in relation to demand. I was getting a solid 4 star hotel for $21 per night including an excellent buffet breakfast. The staff were totally professional. The Pub Street area gets busy in the evenings but everywhere is very quiet in the daytime. The really loud pop-up bars just off Pub Street have been closed down but there are still two bars at either end of the street that blast it out. It’s hard to see why they don’t get these to operate behind soundproof doors. The entire street and its surrounding lanes get noise-blighted by those two bars.

At AW, you can no longer drive any kind of vehicle along the roads that lead to the causeway and all of the sellers and car parks have been moved back one block. Other (resident) sellers further away are going to be moved away from the area completely. Buses with more than 24 seats are not even allowed into the nearest car park. This has all enhanced the appearance of the entrance and the moats and causeway look sensational now. This will raise AW’s profile internationally.

Of course this means that everyone has to walk an additional 200 meters to access AW. Apparently this does not go down well with some Asian tourists.

Once you get to the (also pedestrianized) road that leads to the causeway there is a gauntlet of sellers - again too much supply in relation to demand. A photographer promoting a photo session with rented traditional Khmer dress followed us for 15 minutes talking non-stop and showing photos before he finally gave up. This is not a great experience for tourists.
The rented traditional dress is very popular with Asians. I would say that in general terms, the western tourists have no problem with the long walks and are interested in the history of the temples, you see them listening attentively to their guides and asking questions. Asians in general don’t like the long walks and are primarily interested in photo ops. Once again, I am generalizing so please don't cancel!

I am full of admiration for the boldness of the authorities to make changes that have greatly enhanced the appearance of the entire park area, especially the front of AW itself. All the roads throughout the park are in good condition now and the views are great without the ramshackle buildings. I know it has been tough for the previous occupants of course. The authorities are also to be congratulated for banning child sellers from the entire park area. If only they could put a time limitation on adult sellers pestering you with their services and their trinkets.

Several interesting things in this article.

https://cambodianess.com/article/progra ... ap-tourism

PHNOM PENH – A "Visit Siem Reap 2024" program has been announced to boost tourism in the province.



The industry is one of the most important economic resources for local people and the province was the destination most affected by COVID-19.



Prime Minister HM told a Government-Private Sector Forum the government had also set out measures to help tourism operators and business owners in the province and attract more international tourists.



The Small and Medium Enterprises Bank of Cambodia will organize a direct loan program worth of $50 million primary to enable tourism business owners to reopen and improve their services and hospitality.



These loans would be at an acceptable rate and with favourable conditions in line with the type of business, he said.



The government will also allow banks and financial institutions to re-organize loans on a temporary 12-month basis for tourism operators facing financial problems.



“Tourism diversification will encourage operators and business owners to improve their services or products, which will encourage tourists to pay more,” he said.



This would add to the income of local people. It would also encourage tourists to stay in the country longer. Tourists in the post-pandemic period had a record of staying longer than before the pandemic.



He said the Ministry of Tourism must reform and re-establish the Tourism Council with the participation from state institutions and private sectors as soon as possible to resolve the challenges faced by the private sectors, plans or strategies for tourism development, and solving medium-term problems.



He added that the council must organize and set out specific action plans to implement the program by the end of the year.



This is expected to resolve challenges in the value chain for tourism in Siem Reap province.



These include promotion, direct flights to major tourism destinations, reformation and enhancement of the services and accommodation,



Also included are improvement of infrastructure from the new airport to the city, entrance prices for tourism locations and operation prices for aviation.



The PM called for improved hospitality at border gates. To create a good impression for international tourists, the Interior Ministry’s General Department of Immigration will set out three measures.



One of these is reducing the number of forms that need to be filled in from three, migration, customs and quarantine, to one electronic form. This change will start on Jan. 1.



The department will also organize a hotline for complaints about services provided by the immigration officers and will create a monitoring system with automation and cameras to inspect the work regularly.



HM called on stakeholders to carry out the three tasks at the Siem Reap-Angkor International Airport by the end of 2023.



He said also he would consider a private sector request to expand the scope of a card to let tourists cross the border directly. He said the measure would be tried first for Siem Reap province and ordered the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Interior to work on it soon.



The government will implement tax incentives to help maintain stability and ease the financial burden for tourism operators.



The PM said tour guides and interpreters whose licences had expired would be exempt from transition period fines.



The ministry will work with the Tourism Council to plan for direct flights to Siem Reap province from tourism destinations such as Phuket, Bali, Da Nang and Cebu.



HM was asked to consider making the visa system flexible and attractive for priority markets.



However, he said this was not the answer to problems because Cambodia has been providing many coordinationhad coordinated services by providing the arrival visavisas and e-visavisas.



He said the visa fee is not a barrier for tourists and the fee is an important non-tax source of revenue for the country.



In the first seven months of 2023, more than three million tourists came to Cambodia.



Of these, 264,018 international visitors arrived at Siem Reap’s international airport. The number was higher than that in 2020, 2021 and 2022 but was a 20.9 percent down on the same period in 2019.

I wonder what proportion of international tourits have ever extended their stay in the UK because they heard Rishi Sunak urge them to do so.

There is clearly a lot of attention being paid at high levels to the need to reignite tourism in Siem Reap. Judging by the above article and this one https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501391623/ ... nitiative/
the significant short term features of the new policy are:
To launch a new fund of $50m to lend out to large businesses in the SR tourism market to improve facilities.
Assume trickle effect will benefit small operators such as tuktuk drivers
Assume the improved facilities will lead to longer tourist stays (which atm are worryingly brief)
Monitor the behavior of officials and others at SAI to improve the experience for incoming tourists, i.e. no rip-offs and more friendly faces.
Introduce one electronic form (from 1/1/24) to replace the existing paper forms. If tourists do not have the evisa, then they will still have to complete the paper visa application form.
Allow Thais to visit SR without a passport.
The notion of reducing the visa fee is rejected as it won’t help and the government needs the income.
Reduce entrance prices (but unclear if this includes AW itself)..

Article today in Nikkei Asia: (Nikkei Asia is based in Japan)

SIEM REAP, Cambodia -- The China-funded Siem Reap-Angkor International Airport officially began full operations Thursday, amid mixed feelings in Cambodia about the project and China's growing influence.

The facility is more than triple the size of the former airport that served Siem Reap, the gateway to the Angkor Wat temple complex, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and Cambodia's top tourism draw. Passenger capacity has been increased about 40% to 7 million people.

"This is a result of the ironclad friendship between Cambodia and China," Cambodian Prime Minister HM said at the airport's opening ceremony.

Construction began in March 2020, around the start of the coronavirus pandemic. The $1.1 billion cost was financed through a consortium of state-owned companies from China's Yunnan province that will run the facility under a build-operate-transfer deal until 2071.

"We hope to welcome more Chinese tourists in 2024," said HM, who looks to take advantage of the new airport's expanded capacity to spur a recovery in tourism demand.

Several issues remain, one of which is the location. While the old airport was a 10-minute drive from Angkor Wat, the new one is an hour away.

And tourism has only partly recovered from the pandemic, with international arrivals at the old airport from January to September topping out at 330,000 people, roughly a quarter of arrivals in the same period in 2019.

There are concerns among locals about China's heavy push into infrastructure in Cambodia, which has come to be at the forefront of Beijing's Belt and Road Initiative.

An airport is being built in Phnom Penh to replace the capital's existing one, and there are plans to renovate Sihanoukville International Airport in the south. Expressway, port and railway projects are also in the works.

Since taking office in August, HM held meetings with the heads of China Road and Bridge Corp., China Machinery Engineering Corp. and others to push forward the China-backed infrastructure plans.

Existing infrastructure is, in a sense, being overwritten by Chinese projects. France's Vinci Airports has rights to operate airports in Siem Reap and Phnom Penh, but with the opening of new airports it is likely to lose out to China.

National Highway 1, which connects the capital and the Vietnam border and was built with Japanese assistance, is being replaced by a wider, Chinese-funded expressway along the same route.

While Cambodia's dependence on China for economic development has deepened, Chinese organized crime including drug trafficking, human trafficking and illegal gambling is a persistent problem. More than 1,000 Chinese nationals have been arrested in Cambodia in some years.

In contrast to the government's pro-China stance, locals are increasingly turning against Beijing.

"I'm worried about what's to come," said a tourist guide in Siem Reap. "It can't be stopped now."

https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Transp ... ts-to-come