Tourists riding elephants at Angkor Wat.By Khmerization
Tourism experts and opposition politicians have said that poor Cambodians are faced with the loss of their jobs and incomes despite a marked increase in tourism to Cambodia in the last few years.
Mr. Son Chhay, member of parliament (MP) from the opposition Sam Rainsy Party (SRP), said revenues from tourism did not benefit poor people generally, but have only benefited big businesses which have exclusive and monopolistic rights on most of tourism businesses in Cambodia. "Talking about revenues from entrance fee (to Angkor Wat), Tourism Ministry said it had increased by a big percentage, so the incomes from entrance fee could increase to $80 million per year and the government has received only $20 million due to a new contract (with Sok Kong's company). I think that this company had made huge profits but has done nothing to carry out any repair works (on the temple)", he said.
In the first 9 months of this year, tourist numbers to Cambodia have increased by 15%. In 2009, Cambodia had received 1.6 million foreign tourists. However, in the first 9 months of this year, Cambodia had already received 1.8 million tourists. Annual tourism dollars had increased from $578 million in 2004 to $1.5 billion in 2008.
However, tourism experts and opposition politicians said that the poor people did not benefit much from these tourism revenues, saying most of the tourist dollars went to big businesses such as to Sok Kong's company which manages entrance fee to Angkor Wat, restaurants, hotels and airlines companies which are owned by foreigners.
In 2000, the government had signed a contract with Senator Sok Kong's company, who is a senator from the ruling Cambodian People's Party. Under the contract, Sok Kong is required to pay the government only $1 million per year from revenues he collected from the entrance fees to Angkor Wat. Figures from Tourism Ministry indicate that 50% of the nearly 2 million tourists have visited Angkor Wat every year. According to the opposition SRP, in the first year of the contract, Sok Kong's company collected $3 million in revenue from the entrance fee, but the revenues collected had increased to $75 million per year by 2007.
Mr. Morm Rithy, Deputy Chairman of Confederation of Tourism Union, said poor people only received a small part of the tourist dollars through conducting small businesses as moto-taxi drivers and selling souvenirs to tourists but even this subsistence business is threatened by big businesses which have launched taxi and bus companies to ferry tourists around and also opening big souvenirs shops.
Tourism experts and opposition politicians said the government must change its tourism policies and abolish the policy of giving exclusive and monopolistic rights to big businesses at the expense of poor and private tourist operators such as taxi drivers and souvenir vendors.
4 comments:
Archeological sites such as the Angkorian temples and too many other ancient places, are an absolute patrimony and legacy of the Cambodian people and not a source of exploitation by individuals or particular groups. You can notice that hurry of an entity like 'Apsara' collecting for example money from any foreigner, even those who are working as volunteers or humanitarian organizations in the country. Also you can feel that the temples are exposed to the public without any real protection, building resorts even in the archaeological sites (try to build a hotel just few meters far from any Egyptian pyramid or Greek temple if you are allowed.) There's the impression that the temples are just used to get money and it is more serious if such money is not even going for development of the peoples and the protection of the ancient patrimony. Cambodians should take more seriousness in the meaning of their archaeological treasures, promote to the young studies like archaeology, anthropology, etc (everybody wants to study administration, business, accounting... soon there will be thousands of moto-taxi drivers with diplomas in administration, while social science are just ignores, showing the vile ambition we are witnessing today in the country (everybody became crazy to get money at any cost, even selling the stones of the ancestors).
sok kong sok anh should be hang!
Agreed with Mr. Rodas' comments. To the present Cambodian leaders, money is more important than the preservation and conservation of Cambodia's precious archeological sites. But what is so sad is that the money from tourism did not go back to the nation, people and the preservation and conservation of the temples, but went straight into the pockets of corrupt Cambodian businessmen and top political leaders.
Do you Know that, Sok Kong, Tea Banh are Viet Kong, appointed by Hanoi to run Cambodia.
No more insulted to every Khmer that Angkorwat was built by Khmer ancestors,but its revenue is taken by Hanoi secret agent. Sok Kong is close friend to Hun Sen,who was also appointed by Hanoi.
Tea Banh is a powerful man in Cambodia. He runs all the Cambodian arm-forces,that mean we are still under Hanoi's control.
True Khmer
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