Hotel owners in Cambodia fear losses following reopening

Siem Reap/ Cambodia – Following the Royal Government announcement of reopening the tourism sector, some hotel owners are still reluctant to reopen their businesses, fearing a recurrence of financial loss.

Spending money to renovate hotels amid Omicron variant outbreak poses a threat of abrupt shutdown possibility.

The closure accompanied COVID before forced owners to apply for bank loans that they were unable to repay.

Despite the resumption of domestic tourism, they still believe that it is better to wait for the return of the foreign one with a minimum capacity of 70 percent of what it was in 2019, so they compensate for any cost they incur in upgrading the places.

Sokun Ang, Angkor Rural Boutique Resort owner, said that unless people in Siem Reap could adapt to living with the pandemic, the reopening won’t be possible.

“What drives me not to open my boutique is that my clients are not yet able to adapt, they did not live similar conditions in the past. Some Cambodians are adapted to live with this deadly disease, but for foreign guests, they do not dare to adapt to our country yet,” Ang added.

As the government began the implementation of an infrastructure project, some owners voiced content that the improvement of around 102-kilometers-long roads in the province would lead to the return of tourism in larger numbers.

Meanwhile, others said they want fully open until next year when situations are stable and the infrastructure project is finished attracting more tourists.