Chuck Borris wrote: ↑Fri Sep 17, 2021 7:43 pm Not many will come if they"ll be somewhere "semi-locked" for 7 days.

Doc67 wrote: ↑Sat Sep 18, 2021 11:45 am Europeans have lots of options for winter sunshine, Canaries, Egypt, Dubai etc, North American snowbirds can hit Central and South America or the Caribbean and the Aussies and Kiwi's are even allowed out to play.

Cambodia need to understand that to the average tourist, it's product doesn't warrant 14 days of confinement in a crap hotel with a $2000 price tag. Not by a long way.

As the virus is now in the country and will be for the foreseeable future, there is no justification for any quarantine - not even 24-48 hours for a test result - as the authorities and big organisations are all using and relying on the 20 minute antigen tests. The game ought to be up for the quarantine racket right now.

Any quarantine = No Tourists. It's that simple.

Vax Certs + pre flight testing + antigen test on arrival. Do that, and no more, and Cambodia will attract some tourists. It will be nothing like 2019, those numbers are a pipe dream until all of SEA opens up (inc. OZ + NZ) and airfares come back down to earth.

CEOCambodiaNews wrote: ↑Sat Sep 18, 2021 9:36 pm Is Cambodian International Tourism Likely to Re-open in 2021?
09/09/2021
As Q4 2021 approaches, there has been increasing speculation in the Cambodian media and online that international inbound tourism to Cambodia may re-open before the end of 2021. We look at what has been suggested to date.

In the first week of September 2021, a flurry of speculation has heightened the expectations of some sort of international tourism to resume in the Kingdom.

Cambodia closed its borders to tourists in April 2020 in an attempt to control the spread of COVID-19.

The period from November-February has traditionally been the peak tourism season, mainly due to the favourable cooler weather. However, there are still many hurdles to overcome to allow international tourism to the Kingdom to resume, from procedures, visas, and flights.

Is the Tourism Industry Ready?
Much has been made of the news in September 2021 that Phnom Penh was on track to become the most vaccinated city in Southeast Asia.

On September 8, 2021, the Ministry of Tourism released a Telegram bot and invited the tourism industry to register employees who have been vaccinated. The MoT told the Phnom Penh Post that it was intended to manage the data of all legally registered businesses in the tourism sector.

Sar Sarin, Cambodia Association of Travel Agent’s secretary-general said that the bot makes it easier to manage [data], and ascertain the number of businesses and people working in the sector. This is intended to help the industry better prepare for the reopening of tourism.

The MoT has also introduced a set of minimum standard operating procedures (SOP) for four major classes of tourism businesses.

Service providers
Tourist eateries
Tourist resorts
Eco- and community-based tourism operators

The MoT has also waived the fines for late renewals of licenses and has not charged for the renewal of 2021 tourism-related business licenses.

In May 2021, information detailing Cambodia’s tourism capacity levels were released and in 2020 Cambodia, could offer a total of 15,738 hotels, guesthouses, and restaurants that provide accommodation. Combined, they offered 265,477 rooms and directly employed 80,139 staff.

Quarantine On Arrival
The two biggest practical obstacles to re-opening international tourism are issuing visas and removing the current quarantine on arrival which carry hefty financial costs.

Although some limited health and safety have been assured by implementing these measures, it’s a massive deterrent to international visitors, and the hotels which have benefited from the $1,500-2,000 enforced stays won’t be happy to see the fees end.

Cambodia will need to have a plan to drop the 14-day quarantine policy for fully vaccinated tourists, and any evidence of COVID tests (probably 72-hours prior to travel) with some other testing is logical and already in place in many countries.

Even though the ASQ has recently been adopted, the prices are still high, but the hotels allegedly offer better facilities, food and more comfortable stays for the guests.

For many expat visa-holders and Cambodians, the on-arrival fees and two-week quarantine has simply prevented any thought of flying for the past year.

Rumours have abounded since April 2021, whether Cambodia would drop quarantine restrictions or make it more attractive to visit the Kingdom, with Q4 2021 sometimes touted as a potential target – but no official announcement has been made.

Cambodian Vaccinations
The Kingdom surpassed the 96 per cent vaccination rate on September 6 2021, which was the target for the adult population of 10 million.

In addition, 85.55 per cent of the 12-17 age group of nearly two million have been vaccinated which has also led to plans to open schools in Q4 2021.

International Flights
The other obvious obstacle is how international visitors can reach Cambodia, and leave. There are 18 airlines flying in and out of Cambodia currently, and only 1,089 flights to Cambodia were recorded during the first six months of 2021. This is down by 89.5 per cent year-on-year.

Tourism ministry’s secretary of state and spokesman Top Sopheak said: “We hope that Cambodia will be able to reopen its door to vaccinated tourists by the end of this year after the country has achieved herd immunity.”
https://www.b2b-cambodia.com/articles/i ... n-in-2021/