"Zero-dollar" tour operators blamed for slump in arrivals to Angkor: minister
Xinhua, July 14, 2019
PHNOM PENH, July 14 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian Tourism Minister Thong Khon has pinned the blame on "zero-dollar" tour companies for a slump in foreign tourists to the famed Angkor Archeological Park and vowed to take action against them.

The ancient park received 1.24 million foreign visitors in the first half of 2019, down 8.3 percent over the same period last year, said a government report, adding that the park saw a 9.3-percent drop in revenue from ticket sales to 55.7 million U.S. dollars.

China, the United States and South Korea were the biggest sources of foreign arrivals to the park. The report showed that 540,469 Chinese and 80,676 South Koreans visited the park, down 5.5 percent and 31.6 percent, respectively, as the American arrivals to the site rose by 3.4 percent to 90,552.

"The decrease in international arrivals to the Angkor so far this year resulted from the zero-cost tours offered by some tour operators last year," Khon said at a tourism seminar in Siem Reap province on Saturday, adding that "zero dollar" tour operators had discouraged tourists to re-visit Cambodia because they got ripped off them.

He said the "zero-dollar" tour companies took tourists to buy high-priced products, and the companies, or tour guides, got large kickbacks from the business owners.

"We're trying our best to bring the growth of tourists to the Angkor again... if any travel agents or tour operators are found offering zero-cost tours, they will not be allowed to continue their business anymore," he said. "This business practice has been damaging Cambodia's reputation and tourism."

The minister said some hotels and restaurants had also gone bankrupt because "zero-dollar" tour operators collected money from the customers, but did not give it to them.

"Zero-cost tour operators are the destroyers of tourist destinations in Siem Reap province because tourists visiting Cambodia through those tour operators have lost and disappointed, and some don't want to visit Cambodia again," he said.
http://www.china.org.cn/world/Off_the_W ... 991411.htm

I’m confused. (Not hard)
If the visitors to Angkor Wat are significantly lower than last year then what’s that got to do with “zero dollar” tours being blamed?

If they are not visiting they are not paying to enter and just buying tat at selected (Chinese) shops. (Probably because they upped the price)
So they came all the way to not actually visit the thing they came to visit?!

What am I missing?

Angkor Wat may not be Siem Reap’s saving grace for long
Poovenraj Kanagaraj
5 July 2019
Slow implementation and lack of diversity could cause further decline in tourist arrivals
Siem Reap holds the Kingdom’s most visited site, the Angkor Wat, a complex of temples and one of the largest religious monuments in the world. Often hailed as a holiday destination for many who choose to visit Cambodia, recent headlines reveal a deteriorating number of tourist arrivals to Siem Reap.

Recent sales of tickets at the Angkor Archaeological Park dipped nine percent to $55.7 million compared to the same period last year. The decrease is attributed to a lack of tourism destinations in Siem Reap and the rise in popularity in other provinces.

A five-star hotel representative in Siem Reap says the dip in tourists staying in the hotel is apparent.

“Flights to other city destinations such as Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville are rising compared to Siem Reap which has remained stable,” says the hotelier, who declined being named.

Recently, Cambodia Association of Travel Agents (CATA) president Chhay Sivlin said a change in China’s aviation industry regulation could have contributed to the dip.

CATA senior advisor Ho Vandy is aware of the issue that is plaguing Siem Reap with regards to the lack of tourists offering, apart from temples. He says there were plans to implement the green belt project to make Siem Reap’s tourism sector more attractive.

The green belt project was meant to develop tourism in villages to promote it within the eco-tourism category. The project is meant to prolong visitors’ stay which would lead to increased spending. In return, it would contribute to the local development in the area, which would be in accordance with the project’s policy on alleviating poverty.
But the project was not well implemented.
https://capitalcambodia.com/angkor-wat- ... -for-long/

davegorman wrote: ↑Tue Jul 16, 2019 11:25 am I’m confused. (Not hard)
If the visitors to Angkor Wat are significantly lower than last year then what’s that got to do with “zero dollar” tours being blamed?

If they are not visiting they are not paying to enter and just buying tat at selected (Chinese) shops. (Probably because they upped the price)
So they came all the way to not actually visit the thing they came to visit?!

What am I missing?

To answer your question, let me share a bit how "Zero dollar" tours works (from my past experience):

1. first of all, travel agent at China will put out attractive advertisement such as 3 days package tour from China to Siem Reap with unbelievable low price (for example USD100 for the whole 3 days trip )

2.when tourist arrives at Siem Reap, their schedule would be: half day (or even less) for visiting iconic Angkor wat or random tourist check point, than the rest of time will be brought to all kinds of shops for forced shopping (with incredibly high price).

If tour group does not meet the shopping quota, tour guide will do certain nasty things to travelers, including but not limited to :cursing tourist's parents or kids, personal insulting, physical offensive action, order tour bus to leave while left tourist stranded in some rural location.

If tour group does meet the shopping quota, tour guide will not do nasty things to them, make sure they get back to China with cheap flights.

From past experience, poor tourist that got stranded always finds their way back to home somehow (contact Chinese embassy, or post SOS message in Wechat group), but either the case, they won't come to Cambodia again for the experience they got from this "Zero dollar" tour.

3. Travel agent got big cash back from those shop where they brought their customer to do the force shopping (travel agents demand cash back payment from shop owner as soon as customer left shops or some time even while customer still inside shops), the USD100 they collected from customers, merely to cover the price of Angkor wat ticket and cheap flights, cash back is their true source of incomes

So, finally to answer your question: due to "Zero dollar" tour is focusing on "One off deal", so travel agent's focus is not whether tourist will visit Siem Reap again, but to make sure (in bad ways) the tour group meet the shopping quota, the horrible things they did to tourists bring huge bad impression to tourist about Cambodia and significantly reduces the chance for tourist to visit Siem Reap again in future, this cause Cambodia lost is future income as well as country's image.

One thing to point out, "Zero -Dollar" tour group is “normal phenomenon” in China, it recently comes to Cambodia as part of many "gifts".

Yeah, but who comes back several times to Siem Reap/AW? Besides locals I mean, many of whom go on a yearly basis. I doubt many. I've been here ten years and never once have gone back to SR, nor have many of my expat friends or frequent visitor acquaintances. It's one of those "tick in the box/go there once" type of places for most. How many Chinese tourists come back to Cambodia 2-3 times to visit Angkor, even if the tour was good? The number can't be that high.

Those tours are responsible for many things (lower revenue for smaller local businesses perhaps), but I don't think they'd contribute much to a drop in AW visits. I suspect the ticket price hike does play a role, regardless of who the authorities want to blame. I reckon they should start charging locals 5000r or something, so that at least they contribute a bit to the preservation of their own cultural heritage.

My 2 cents are the price is the main reason. Not just the price of the ticket to temples, but the fact Cambodia as a whole, and especially Siem Reap, is not the bargain it used to be. Bagan, Ayuthaya, and even some temples just out Hoi An give you more bang for your buck, with Hoi An offering a very nice beach on top.

And add to that the largest group of tourists, the Chinese, are not mainly in Cambodia to see ancient Khmer culture. The Cambodian government simply can't accept you can't have it all.

I went to Siem Reap and did all the tourist shit in early 2006. I haven't planned (and don't ever plan) to go back. Why would I??? Once you've seen it you've seen it.

Blaming zero-cost tours for a drop in arrivals may be correct; but, not because they cause people to not want to go back, but probably because of 'word of mouth' to other potential tourists - "Don't go to Siem Reap/Angkor Wat, you'll get ripped off".

And what about the general drop in other Asian travelers and Europeans?
You can’t blame all that on zero dollar Chinese tours!

Been there once in 2017. I lasted an hour at the first one and got bored. Never going back. Over rated and over priced.

The place hasn't even been restored anywhere to give a feeling of what it once looked like. It's just a clearing in the forest with a pile of old stone in it with deadly steep worn out stairs and botched up wooden makeshift steps installed to stop people breaking their limbs every day.

After the Siem Reap experience of being eaten alive by mosquitos and hassled to death by aggressive tuks at the each end of Pub Street, we went to Sihanoukville and that was even shittier...