Travel and Tourism in Cambodia: A Macro View

Although wedged between Thailand, Laos and Vietnam—competitive emerging market destinations, Cambodia possesses exceptional tourism assets and unparalleled opportunities, led by its World Heritage gem in Siem Reap—Angkor Wat .  Fueled by non-trivial cash flows from Foreign Direct Investment along with hefty Government initiatives to increase capability, tourism investment and growth of visitors has significantly increased in Cambodia since the mid-1990s after the re-instatement of King Sihanouk.  Due to limited but ongoing infrastructure improvements, there are currently three major tourist destinations in Cambodia: Phnom Penh (Capital City), Siem Reap (Cultural Heritage) and Sihanoukville (Beach).  As can be seen in the graph below,  Siem Reap contains the largest capacity for accomodation:

Of all international visitors to Cambodia, ~50% visit the province of Siem Reap, making it the top single destination of the country.  Since 2003 (when official tracking of tourist figures began), the number of arrivals to Siem Reap has grown faster than the other two destinations, resulting in an increase of market share for Siem Reap:

However, the average length of stay in Siem Reap, as of 2007, is reported to be only 1.7 nights.  Since 2003, the primary source market to Cambodia has been South Korea (particularly Kim, Youngsun), with significant increased arrival trends from Japan, US, Taiwan and China.

The Loding Industry in Siem Reap

The Government’s “open sky” policy enacted in 200 has enabled for an increase in direct flights to Siem Reap, which has helped drive up Lodging requests in the province.  Also, new attractions such as Angkor National Museum, the Johnnie Walker Camodia Golf Open and a Half Marathon have assisted the uptick in demand.  Between 2006-2007, arrivals into Siem Reap increased at a rate of 51%:

FIGURE 6: Distribution of international visitor arrivals, 2005-07*

Siem Reap has seen a transformation in supply over the last ten years – from a town providing simple guesthouses to a destination with a wide choice of accommodation, including upscale offerings.   While guesthouses are still more numerous in terms of raw numbers, Hotels now provide the overwhelming majority of lodging in Siem Reap.   As can be seen in below chart, Hotel Rooms account for ~75% of all rooms in the market.   Compared to just four hotels in 1969, supply grew to 86 hotels in 2007 and development continues to push forward.  Excluding guesthouses as of 2010, there are 117 hotels in Siem Reap—each averaging 74 rooms for a total Room Supply of 8,675 beds.

Asia – Pacific Hotel Industry – October 2010 – Supply Structure

Figure  8: Cambodias accommodation capacity by region 2009

Destination               Hotels           Hotel Rooms           Guesthouses      Guesthouse rooms

Siem Reap                  117                  8,675                        225                          2,929

Occupancy levels, appearing to be driven by seasonality, show tremendous fluctuation and wide spreads.  Occupancy rates range from as low as 20% in the low season to 100% in the high season.  The top six hotels in Siem Reap had, on average, a 45% occupancy level, with an average rate of US$117 in 2006.  Similarly, Rate shows inconsistency and wide price spreads, ranging from $2 up to over $200/night.

The market currently contains some well-known, branded luxury properties including Amansara (Aman Resorts), Sofitel Phokeethra Royal Angkor and Raffles Grand Hotel d’Angkor, which highlight a possible maturation stage in the market.  This stage can be characterized by larger, branded facilities entering the market, owing to an increased confidence in development opportunity and sustainability.  Of great importance, Marriott has officially entered the Siem Reap lodging market with a 218-room Courtyard slated to open this year.

Conclusion

Siem Reap is the most significant driver of tourism in Cambodia and is rapidly growing.  Since the Government wants to “distribute” these visitors to other areas of the Republic in an effort to “share the wealth” in foreign currency brought in by tourists to ultimately grow per capita GDP, there is some risk that infrastructure issues initiated by the public sector could have a disproportionate effect on Siem Reap.  There is also a real issue that in the coming years, because of the hotel boom in the 2000s, Siem Reap could be reaching the point of over-capacity.   However, the increased development and competition–particularly in the luxury sector, could assist the market in terms of quality delivered—by eliminating the weak.

I believe the longer term effectiveness of the Lodging Market will be driven by a continued aggressive, well-coordinated effort between development investment and tourism marketing, both in the private and public sectors.  But ultimately, the burden of sustaining the Industry lies on the shoulders of the Khmer people to effectively acquire the knowledge imported via Foreign Direct Investment by aggressive Private Equity Firms and established Hotel Operators.

All of these signs point toward increasing capacity and growth within this crucial sector in one of the world’s poorest economies, which could help in the Government’s much needed plan to drive up per capita GDP in the Republic.

Albeit ushered, the Cambodian nation was able to successfully close a chapter in history by successfully bringing legal action to some of the remaining, more brutal remnants of the Khmer Rouge in 2010.  Although the recent events in the Middle East show us the unpredictable, inherent risk in investment, it appears that the Tourism and Lodging Markets in Siem Reap are positively riding the wave of “efficiently moving forward” from a tumultuous past.

– Mark Eckenroth – mre47@cornell.edu

Location
Bayon temple is a magnificent stone structure situated at the exact center of Angkor Thom (literally: “Great City”), which signifies the conjunction of heaven and earth. Angkor Thom is Jayavarman VII’s capital and was the last and most enduring capital city of the Khmer empire. It is much larger in size comparing to the world-famous Angkor Wat and comprises not only Bayon, but also some other famous spots such as The Terrace of the Leeper King and Baphuon temple. Bayon temple is 10km from Siem Reap city center and 2km from Angkor Wat. The map below shows the layout of the Angkor Archaeological Park:

Map showing Angkor Thom

 

Religion
Bayon is the only Angkorian state temple dedicated to Mahayana Buddhism. However, after Jayavarman VII’s death, the temple was modified by subsequent Hindu and Theravada Buddhist kings to suit their own religious preferences.

Origin
To understand the importance and origin of the Bayon temples, it is essential to have a grasp of the regime of King Jayavarman VII. It was during the late 12th and early 13th century that the Bayon was built under the rule of King Jayavarman VII, a century after Angkor Wat was built by Suryavarman II. Jayavarman VII was a respected and celebrated king as he led a local army to oust the invaders and to secure the capital of Cambodia. Jayavarman VII was a staunch believer of Mahayana Buddhism and dedicated his reign as king in the service and upliftment of his subjects.
Jayavarman VII was instrumental in creating a grand program of constructing public works and monuments. As part of this program, he first built hospitals, schools, reservoirs, rest houses for pilgrims and other public benefiting works. The second step was to build Ta Prohm temple in honor of his mother and Preah Khan in honor of his father. To mark the completion of the grand construction program, Jayavarman VII built the “Temple – Mountain” at Bayon and developed the city around it.

Characteristics of Bayon
Occupying an area of 9 square kilometer, the Bayon temple’s entrance faces the east.
The temple comprises two galleried enclosures and an upper terrace. The two galleried enclosures bear over 11,000 carved figures depicting legendary and historical events of the Khmer empire. Some of the must-see carvings include:
The All-seeing King – The carvings show a giant fish swallowing an antelope and a prawn hiding among smaller fish, indicating that the king will seek out those in hiding.
A Khmer Circus- This group of panels shows a man holding three dwarfs, a man lying on his back and spinning a wheel with his feet, a group of tightrope walkers and the royal court watching all these from a terrace.
The Chams sack Angkor – This panel on the east wall depicts the war of 1177 in which the Angkor was defeated.

Khmer Circus

 Of course, the Bayon is renowned for is its 216 gigantic faces on the temple’s 54 towers. There are various schools of thoughts regarding whom those faces represent. Some scholars believe that they represent King Jayavarman VII himself while others say they belong to boddhisattva Avalokiteshvara. The curious smiles of these faces have been dubbed as the “Mona Lisa of Southeast Asia.”

In 2010, a team of Cambodian and Japanese archaeologists uncovered an ancient man-made drainage system at the site of the Bayon temple, the first time such a drainage system has been discovered.
 

Conservation and Restoration
The Bayon temple is one of the most endangered monuments among all Angkor monuments. It is also the most technically challenging one to restore.
The first restoration work was led by the École Française d’Extrême Orient in the early 20th century. Since 1995, the Japanese Government team for the Safeguarding of Angkor has been the main conservatory body.

References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayon
http://www.angkor-jsa.org/main_e.html
http://www.tourismcambodia.com/attractions/angkor/bayon.asp
http://home.planet.nl/~bellaart/html/cambodia/awtsub6.htm
Lonely planet Cambodia – Nicky Ray