CAMBODIA - to double luxury golf courses by 2010: official

AFP, 19-01-2008

Cambodia doubled its number of luxury golf courses last year to four and hopes to have eight by 2010 in a bid to lure more high-end tourism from the fast-growing sport in Asia, officials said Thursday.
Cambodia in 2007 opened its only two PGA-rated courses in the popular tourist town on Siem Reap, in northwest Cambodia near the famed Angkor temples which remain the country's biggest draw for foreign visitors.
A third course backed by South Korean investors is expected to open in Siem Reap in 2009, said Suos Yara, secretary general of Cambodia Golf Association.
Three other multi-million-dollar golf projects are also under construction near the capital Phnom Penh and along the border with Vietnam, with another planned near the seaside resort of Sihanoukville, he told AFP.

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REGIONAL DEVELOPMENTS - Thailand-based developer's foray into Langkawi signals a new trend

Bangkokpost.com, January 21, 2008

As he sees it, Langkawi's emergence is not a threat to Phuket and actually complements the Thai resort island. The trend, he believes, is to view the whole Thai-Malaysian-Singaporean peninsular area as the ''Caribbean of the East''.
''Stretching from the Andaman Sea is Phangnga, Phuket, Krabi, the coastal area of Trang, then there is Langkawi, the coastal area of Penang all the way down to Singapore, then the northern islands of Indonesia,'' notes Mr Lai. ''From there it goes back up the Gulf of Thailand to Pattaya and from there a little bit east to Rayong and then Sihanoukville in Cambodia. This area is now being identified as the Caribbean of the East and I think this trend will become more and more obvious and significant.

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CAMBODIA - largest airport planned for seaside resort: minister

RadioAustralia.net.au, 12/01/2008

Cambodia's seaside airport near Sihanoukville is slated to become the country's largest as a new focus is placed on bringing tourists into the area.Tourism Minister Thong Khon told the AFP newsagency the airport would be bigger than Phnom Penh International Airport.A year after its re-opening, service at the Sihanoukville airport remains limited to chartered domestic flights.But plans are underway to make it a regional travel hub, with the first phase of a 200 million-dollar expansion expected to be completed by March.

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REGIONAL DEVELOPMENTS - Cambodia and Thailand sign single tourist visa deal

Reuters, 17 december 2007

Thailand and Cambodia agreed on Monday to allow foreign tourists to enter on a single visa.
"This means a tourist can get a visa either for Thailand or Cambodia and can visit the two nations," Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong said after signing the agreement with visiting Thai counterpart Nitya Pibulsonggram.
The deal was the first of a hoped for series also involving Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam, he said.
"We want to see the five countries become one tourist destination," Hor Namhong said.

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REGIONAL DEVELOPMENTS - Survey launched to set up sea tourist route

VietNamNet Bridge, 11/12/2007

A delegation left Rach Gia port in southern Kien Giang Province on December 10, starting a trip to survey a sea tourist route linking Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand.The delegation, including 162 representatives from the three countries’ travel administrations and agencies, will call at tourist sites in Kep, KoKong and Shihanoukville of Cambodia and Thailand’s Trat and Chanthaburi provinces and Pattaya resort city, to assess local tourism potential and then propose orientations to tap the advantages.At every destination, the delegation will work with local authorities on tourism development and host exchanges between visiting and local enterprises.

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CAMBODIA - S Korean, Chinese tourists most frequent in Siem Reap of Cambodia

chinaview.cn 2007-12-08

Most of the foreign tourists coming to Siem Reap, where the renowned Angkor Wat is situated, were from South Korea and China in October, Chinese-language newspaper the Commercial News reported on Saturday.
The percentage is unclear, but they just shared the majority, the paper quoted a report from the provincial tourism authority assaying. Meanwhile, altogether 170,180 people visited Siem Reap in October, it said. Among them, 86,833 were foreigners, a 22.15 percent increase over the same period last year, and 83,347 Cambodians, a rise of 50.93 percent, it said.

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CAMBODIA - River Dolphins in bid to renew Northeast Cambodian economy

traveldailynews.com, December 04, 2007

The last 80 or so river dolphins in the Mekong River are at the heart of an ambitious development programme to tackle poverty and attract tens of thousands of visitors to two of the poorest provinces of Cambodia. The Mekong River Discovery Trail Project will draw visitors to view the endangered fresh water dolphin which lives in 10 deep water natural pools in a 190-km stretch of the Mekong River, mostly between the quiet provincial capitals of Kratie and Stung Treng.

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CAMBODIA - seeks $3bn investments in power plants

Bangkokpost, 24 November 2007

Cambodia's economy, which relies on garment exports and tourism, may grow 9.7% this year, Prime Minister Hun Sen said on Nov 7. Companies such as Club Me'diterrane'e SA and Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide Inc are planning to build hotels to tap the country's rising tourist arrivals.
Poor Infrastructure "Cambodia has very low labour costs that can even compete with China," said Van Sou Leng, chairman of the Cambodian Garment Manufacturers Association, a trade group. "Investors are cautious to invest here because of poor infrastructure such as electricity, roads and ports."

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CAMBODIA - To Get New Airline

aero-news.net, 26 Nov 2007

The Cambodian government signed a joint venture agreement with two Indonesian companies Friday, to form a new national airline to exploit the country's growing tourism industry.
The new Cambodian airline, with no name at this time, is expected to begin flying in six months, according to The Associated Press. Cambodia's previous flag carrier, Royal Air Cambodia, went bankrupt five years ago.The joint-venture agreement was signed between Cambodia with Rajawali Group and PT Ancora International. The Indonesian partners' businesses include cigarettes, cement, telecommunications, hotels, resorts, extractive minerals and airlines, according to officials with both companies.

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CAMBODIA - Coast of Utopia

Travel.nytimes.com/2007/11/18

As peace and a measure of prosperity have come to Cambodia, the government has identified the southern coast as a key to diversifying tourism — which for years has almost entirely been focused on Angkor — and travel agents have begun suggesting a few days on the beach as part of their Cambodia packages. The highway from the capital, three and a half hours away by car, has been paved with American aid money and is now safe and easy to navigate, even at night. (When I used to drive it, soldiers with AK-47s would step out onto the road to stop the cars, already slowed to a crawl by craters and washed-away pavement, to demand money and cigarettes.

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CAMBODIA - Doubts surround Cambodia's plans for a stock exchange

The Associated Press, November 19, 2007

Last month, the Senate passed a law on the issuance and trading of stocks and bonds in the latest move to prepare Cambodia for establishing its first stock market by 2009.
Finance Minister Keat Chhon says the country needs a stock market to diversify the way businesses raise money. So far, beyond international aid for development projects, most financing has come from banks. But he acknowledges that it will take some time for Cambodian entrepreneurs and the public to accept the idea of a stock market - particularly the requirement that all companies' bookkeeping would be open to scrutiny.

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CAMBODIA - New tourist route could be answer to Cambodia’s Angkor Wat woes

(eTN), October 17th 2007

As tourism in Angkor Wat continues to grow unabated, a new tourist route could alleviate some of the tourist pressure.
For many years now, the Cambodian government has been looking for solutions to take some of the pressure out of the site. As the first seven months of 2007 brought 442,000 visitors to Siem Reap International Airport, a growth of 38 percent, Angkor Wat is poised to continue to take a beating from the hordes of tourists that visit the world heritage site. The Apsara Authority, which manages the Angkor Wat complex, recently introduced new paths with tourists taking different routes to enter and exit the temple.The objective now is to make certain that tourists do not flock to the site at the same time. The idea is to create circuits around Angkor Wat to spread the number of visitors and take some of the pressure faced by Angkor top attractions.

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CAMBODIA - to establish a national airline

people.com.cn , September 5, 2007

The Cambodian government will establish a national airline soon, senior officials said on Tuesday.
The state-owned aviation company will become a key tool for globally advertising and promoting of the kingdom's tourism industry, because Cambodia expects to attract about two million of foreign tourists this year, said Tourism Minister Thong Khon at the 12th Government-Private Sector Forum."Last year Cambodia collected over one billion U.S. dollars from the tourism field and the tourist arrivals in the first half of this year increased nearly by 20 percent (over that of last year)," he added.

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CAMBODIA - Ex-Khmer Rouge stronghold bets the pot on casino boom

AFP, Sep 2, 2007

Landmines -- thousands of them -- lie unseen, in some places only metres (yards) from the road.
But the hidden killers are one of the few reminders left of the war that raged a decade ago across this remote hill country in Cambodia's western-most reaches.
The tanks that were commonplace have since given way to truck convoys rumbling across from Thailand, past casinos and highrise hotels that residents hope signal a rebirth for this former Khmer Rouge stronghold.
These ex-guerrillas, whose misguided dream of a classless agrarian utopia had violently rejected the fruits of capitalism, are now in the business of making money.

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CAMBODIA - gives permission for companies to build tourist resorts on islands

International Herald Tribune, 30 July, 2007

Cambodia's government has given its permission for six local and foreign companies to develop tourist resorts worth up to US$627 million (€460 million) on islands off the country's coast, officials said Monday.
Commerce Minister Cham Prasidh, who is also vice chairman of the Cambodian Investment Board, signed agreements in principle with the companies last Friday, said Long Sakhan, president of one of the companies.
She said her real estate firm, Vimean Seila Ltd., received permission to build a hotel and resort on a 420-hectare (1,037-acre) area of an island off Kampot province, 130 kilometers (80 miles) southwest of the capital Phnom Penh.
She said another Cambodian company and four other foreign firms are planning to develop similar tourist resorts on four islands off the coast of Sihanoukville, a port 185 kilometers (115 miles) southwest of Phnom Penh.

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CAMBODIA - leases tourist islands for $627m

thetidenews.com, 2 august 2007

Cambodia, Monday, agreed to lease five islands in the Gulf of Thailand for 627 million dollars to investors for tourism, the state investment agency says.
“The projects will become a magnet for tourism. These projects will create natural resorts which are popular with foreign tourists”, Commerce Minister Cham Prasidh said in a statement.
Prasidh, who is also deputy chairman of the Council for the Development of Cambodia, said six Cambodian companies signed the long-term leases and have one year to submit detailed plans for the resorts.

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CAMBODIA - sees tourism boom in first five months of ‘07

e-travelblackboard, June 29, 2007

It seems more and more travellers are discovering the wonders of Cambodia, with the ports recording just below 20% growth in the first five months of the year when compared to 2006.
Siem Reap was still the most popular entrance port, with a market share of 65.26% of total arrivals. The 553,873 trips into Siem Reap represent a lift of a little over 57% when compared to 2006 figures.

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REGIONAL DEVELOPMENTS - Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia join forces to develop tourism

Vietnam Net bridge, 29/06/2007

Dinh Hai, director of Quang Nam's Department of Tourism, told the Daily that the tourism authorities of Siem Reap, Luang Prabang, Champasak and Quang Nam would sign the deal on the sidelines of a tourism festival.
The four-day Quang Nam - Heritage Road Festival 2007 kicked off on Wednesday in the World Heritage-listed town of Hoi An.
The four provinces, Hai said, will jointly market tourism products and promote their World Heritage sites. "We have special tourist attractions - World Heritage sites, so we want to join hands to introduce them to attract tourists," he said.
The UNESCO-recognized World Heritage sites are Hoi An and My Son in Quang Nam, Luang Prabang and Wat Phou in Luang Prabang, and Angkor Wat in Siem Reap.

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ACCOMMODATION - Sokha expansion

TTGasia.com, Jun 1 - 7, 2007

Sokha Hotels and Resorts is set to embark on a major expansion that will see Cambodia’s first and only hotel chain investing upwards of US$250 million in developing three mega hotel and residential complexes in the country within the next three years.
Assistant managing director, Mr Hin Samnang, said Cambodia’s strong tourism growth and high business demands had pushed Sokha to accelerate its expansion plans to complete its network of hotels in major destinations in Cambodia.
It now owns and manages the 276-room Sokha Angkor Siem Reap and 176-key Sokha Beach Sihanouk Ville. Sokha plans to spend US$100 million developing a high-end property comprising a hotel, condominiums, serviced apartments, residential villas and a shopping arcade. The project will be located on a 20-hectare riverfront peninsula of Phnom Penh’s Tonle Sap River. Mr Samnang said the hotel would be of five-star standard with 500 rooms, Sokha’s Jasmine Spa and five f&b outlets. It would also have the largest ballroom in Phnom Penh at 3,500m2.

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CAMBODIA - Tourists up 20 percent in first 4 months

Xinhuanet, 05-30-2007

Cambodia saw a 20-percent increase in the number of tourist arrivals for the first four months of 2007, compared with the same period last year, local media reported on Wednesday.
Some 710,000 visitors arrived between January and April and the majority were South Korean and Japanese, French language daily newspaper the Cambodge Soir quoted Tourism Minister Thong Khon as saying.

"Although Japanese and South Korean tourists still take the lead in terms of numbers, we note that there has been a 70-percent increase in Vietnamese tourist arrivals and a 38-percent increase in Thai tourist arrivals," he said.
The newly-appointed minister stressed that the large number of Vietnamese visitors has also resulted from recent efforts to advertise Cambodia's tourist destinations in Vietnam.

Thong Khon added that Cambodia intends to draw 2 million tourists this year.

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