Doc67 wrote: ↑Sat Jan 16, 2021 9:47 am
I was having a conversation last night with a mate who said that although it was a bit selfish to say, he enjoyed PP more now than before, when the Dec-Mar months were full of tourists. You can always get a seat at your favourite bar, and more often than not, you get your favourite
seat.
I pointed out that while that aspect was very nice, in 6/12 months your favourite bar will probably be closed. There are very few breaking even at the moment and the determination to carry on funding the losses will eventually give way even if the cash to keep it going is not exhausted. Many will wish they hadn't hung on for so long and closed the doors in April.
Enjoy it while it lasts.
I heard a rumour that Cheers Bar on 136 and Riverside is giving up soon. That will leave that entire riverside block between 136 and 130 completely devoid of any business.
Last year the bomb went off, this year is the fallout.
I agree the (hostess) bars are better now, but then I like being the only customer - can choose the music, no cigarette smoke and low Covid risk.
In recent months we have seen net openings, one or two closed but many more new ones opened. The owners have lower costs due to rent reductions and salary cuts. They are obviously navigating the downturn well. I can't see mass closures unless the landlords get silly and reimpose full rents.
The Riverside bars and restaurants are another kettle of fish. Along with the travel shops, they've been crushed. Even when the hostess bars were all closed for a while, the Riverside places didn't do very well. The ones that are coping are the ones that always had local and expat custom, e.g. Metro and Oskar.
I don't go there much but I think st 136 and 130 bars are doing quite well with Chinese customers, and some Japanese, Korean etc. There has been two recent new openings of over-the-top Asian style bars on 130 and several openings of barang style bars on 5, 118 and 130. The bar scene is starting to polarise on ethnic lines (as happened in Angeles a while back).
My prediction for 2021? The Covid resurgence has delayed the new China policy on gaming tourism. It is still difficult for mainlanders to enter Macau - and Thailand has too much Covid. But when Covid settles down, I believe there will be a strong policy on directing gaming tourists to Macau, and non-gaming tourists to places with no casinos such as Thailand and maybe Siem Reap.
With China running high trade surpluses, they will be increasing capital export so we can expect more Chinese business visitors. But those guys don't come to the centre too much as they have their places in the south of the city, and other peripheral parts. They do come for the hostess bars because the centre offers that fairly uniquely.
So, I think the hostess bars will struggle on. Restaurants without local and expat custom will continue to get crushed, ditto the travel shops. And I can't see a great future for all the big new (and refurbished) hotels about to open in the Riverside area. Once Covid restrictions ease off, we could see less rather than more Chinese visitors. If the barang tourists don't come back at that point, it could be troublesome but they may well return due to pent-up demand for travel.
If I am right about all this, there are some positives for Siem Reap but very little, if any, for SHV.
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