NEWS ARCHIVES 2000
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News archive 2000

Things That Matter: Khmer Kids Link to the Future
January 1, 2000 - Excellent article about how orphans are recruited to set up internet connections in their remote villages.

Open Skies Bring Flocks of Tourists to Cambodia
By Veena Thoopkrajae, excerpted from The Nation, AFP, December 13, 2000
    SIEM REAP - Cambodia's tourism industry is undergoing a dramatic surge, thanks to increasing international interest in Cambodian culture and the government's open skies policy, Prime Minister Hun Sen said yesterday.
    Speaking at a World Tourism Organisation conference on cultural tourism here, Hun Sen said there had been a 100-per-cent jump in arrivals in Siem Reap, the northern gateway to Cambodia's main tourist drawing card, the ancient temples of Angkor.
    "The government's open skies policy has brought huge benefits to the Cambodian people," he told conference delegates.
    He said overall tourist arrivals had jumped to 334,000, up 27 per cent in the year to September over the same period last year.
    "Some 131,988 of those people visited Siem Reap, an increase of 100 per cent on last year. It is reasonable to forecast that in the next few years the number of tourists visiting Siem Reap will rise to one million a year," he said.
    Veng Sereyvuth, Cambodia's tourism minister, said the number of tourists visiting the country increased by 17 per cent during the first three quarters, compared to the same period last year.
    The industry attracted US$200 million (Bt8.66 billion) last year.
    In Siem Reap alone, the number of tourists has spiralled because of the open skies policy that ended a monopoly on the route by Royal Air Cambodge late last year
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    TAT recently entered into a joint-promotion agreement with the Cambodian government called 'Two Kingdoms, One Destination'.
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    It is estimated that in the next decade, the number of international visitors will reach 855,000, while Hun Sen expected the number to jump to one million annually.

Thailand, Cambodia Renew Tourism Pact
Bangkok, Thailand, 1 Aug, 2000
Thailand and Cambodia have renewed their bilateral Agreement for Implementation of Tourism Cooperation for the year 2001-2002 to facilitate visitor arrivals to and within the two countries.
         The agreement was signed by Cambodian Tourism Minister Veng Sereyvuth and Thailand's Minister of the Prime Minister’s Office Adisai Bodharamik who visited Phnom Penh between 27-29 July 2000. Mr Adisai is also Chairman of the Tourism Authority of Thailand.
         It will see the two countries undertaking a series of co-operative tourism marketing ventures designed to position them both under the new slogan of “Two Kingdoms, One Destination.” The joint marketing campaign will be backed by production of marketing collaterals and brochures, plus organisation of familiarisation trips for travel agents and travel writers. Both the TAT and the Ministry of Tourism will continue joint surveys of tourism routes to develop package tours that will combine attractions of the two countries utilising air, land and sea transportation networks between Thailand and Cambodia.
         The routes are as follows:
         a. Bangkok - Aranyaprathet/Poi Pet – Sisophon – Siem Reap;
         b. Bangkok – Trat – Baan Haadlek/Koh Kong – Sihanouk Ville – Phnom Penh – Siem Reap – Aranyaprathet/Poi Pet – Bangkok.
         The two national tourism organisations will organise meetings for the tourism operators of the two countries to discuss ways to develop package tours that combine the attractions of both countries.
         Said Mr Adisai, “We also discussed the possibility of launching a joint Khmer Cultural Tourism Route. The TAT has finalised a suggested itinerary on the Thai side and proposed it to our Cambodian counterparts to come up with a matching itinerary on their side.
         “Once finalised, the entire circuit covering both sides of the border can become one of the best-selling tour packages in the region,” Mr. Adisai said. An Implementing Technical Group will be set up to formulate and execute all above-mentioned activities as well as facilitate frontier formalities.
         TAT Governor Pradech Phayakvichien said the bilateral marketing campaign will supplement, not replace, existing activities being undertaken through the Greater Mekong Subregion tourism forums. “Both Cambodia and Thailand are members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations as well as the GMS, so any activities we undertake on a bilateral level will be carefully organised to ensure no duplication and waste of resources,” the Governor said.
         In addition to marketing and infrastructure related issues, the Thai- Cambodia tourism pact also includes matters covering destination development and human resources.
         The agreement commits the TAT to help Cambodian tourism authorities with the development of the Tourism Master Plan for the Preah Vihear, Ratanakiri and Mondolkiri Provinces of Cambodia. The plan will be finalised by the first week of September 2000. The TAT will also grant three scholarships for technical trips and training for Cambodian tourism personnel to participate in training courses on Hotel and Resort Management, Food and Beverage and Training the Trainer for Professional Tour Guide.
         Mr Adisai added, “It was a pleasure to get acquainted with my counterparts in Cambodia and renew this very important agreement. Both Thailand and Cambodia have a lot to gain from each other and we are working hard to ensure all parts of the agreement are duly implemented.” From thaishanghai.com
 
The State of Angkor Tourism
International Herald Tribune has an interesting article on the tourism boom around the Angkor Wat area and the challenges that lay ahead. If you have not been yet, you had better go before it is overrun!
 
Golden Peninsula tourism campaign fails to shine
By Choosak Jirasakunthai, excerpted from the Nation, 10 July 2000 - Full article from the Nation website
      "THE Great Wonders of Suwannaphumi", the regional tourism promotional campaign, is off to a slow start despite the fanfare surrounding its launch late last year by Foreign Minister Surin Pitsuwan.
     The main stumbling block for the promotion, in which Thailand features prominently, is the lack of funds among the five participating countries -- Burma, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam -- to create a unified campaign, tourist officials said. Moreover, without a harmonised immigration policy, it is difficult for tourist operators to organise a five-country tour in one package, they said.
     Suwannaphumi, or "Golden Peninsula", is a centuries-old term used to describe the civilisations that once prospered in Burma, Cambodia, Laos and Thailand. Vietnam has not historically been included in the Golden Peninsula.
....
     Indeed, the word is difficult enough just to pronounce. Certain tour operators at a recent meeting told TAT to change the campaign's title. Suwannaphumi means nothing to foreign tourists and Vietnam is not even part of the region, they said.
     "It should be called the 'Mekong' region since Suwannaphumi does not make sense to foreign tourists", said Luzi A Matzig, group managing director of Asian Trails Co, a leading tour operator in Southeast Asia.
     There were more than 11 million foreign tourist arrivals in Suwannaphumi last year. Of those, 8.5 million visited Thailand, compared with 1.79 million for Vietnam, 614,000 for Laos, 198,000 for Burma and 262,000 for Cambodia.
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11 days in Suwannaphumi
Day 1: Arrive in Bangkok and visit the splendid architecture of the Grand Palace and the Emerald Buddha Temple.
Day 2: Fly with Thai Airways to Rangoon.
Day 3: Fly with a Burmese domestic airline from Rangoon to Pagan, the first capital city of Burma and known as the Land of a Thousand Stupas.
Day 4: Visit Mandalay, the last capital city under Burmese imperialism. Fly back to Rangoon in the evening.
Day 5: Fly to Chiang Mai, the capital city of Lanna civilisation.
Day 6: Fly to Luang Prabang, a world heritage site and the capital city of Lan Chang civilisation.
Day 7: Visit Vientiane, the capital of Laos. Fly to Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam.
Day 8: Visit Hue, one of the oldest cities in Southeast Asia.
Day 9: Fly to Ho Chi Minh City with Vietnam Airlines.
Day 10: Fly to Siem Reap, the historical site of Angkor Wat.
Day 11: Return to Bangkok with Bangkok Airways.

Great Wonders of Suwanakphumi
February, 2000 - Laos, Burma, Cambodia and Thailand--once part of the ''Suwanakphumi'' (Golden Peninsular) region--are planning a single visa for all countries.
    This plan would promote the common cultural heritage of the region--Thailand's Grand Palace in Bangkok, Cambodia's Angkor Wat in Siem Reap, Laos' Luang Prabang, and Burma's Mandalay. Vietnam has also expressed interest in joining the grouping to promote the ancient capital of Hue.
    The plan envisions flights that directly link historic cities in the region. Presently, travelers must transit through major cities such as Vientiane (the capital of Laos) to catch flights to historic regions. Cambodia is promoting its new open skies policy with direct flights from Siem Reap to Bangkok and to Sukothai (the capital of an ancient kingdom in Thailand). Burma is "considering" how it could ease its strict rules on visas to become part of the grouping.
    This is a big departure from the way regional tourism has traditionally worked in the region. In the past, neighboring tourism boards competed against each other for visitors and cooperation was minimal.


Above: Logo from Festival Angkor 2000, a "millennium" celebration held at Angkor Wat over New Year's. It was one of Cambodia's first forays into an international tourist campaign.