SEAArch - The Southeast Asian Archaeology Newsblog » Tourism

The secret life of tour guides at Angkor

noelbynature — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 00:01:34 +0000

The Phnom Penh Post has a revealing article about how tour guides at Angkor view the world and make their living. It’s fairly common knowledge that tour guides get a commission for leading tourists to restaurants and stores – but what does this story tell us about conducting responsible tourism in Cambodia?

Tour guide at Angkor, Phnom Penh Post 20120203

Gold rush at Angkor
Phnom Penh Post, 03 February 2012

It is not hard to get an official license as a tour guide, but it is expensive. Quite often you must bribe an officer from the Ministry of Tourism up to $1,000.

Of course you have to pass an exam, but that’s a joke. They check your language and historical knowledge in a mock exam, but in order to get the title as a tour guide you have to pay. I would not pay in the beginning and failed twice. The officer did not even look at my test sheet. After paying $1,000, I passed the test. Many of my colleagues had the same experience.

We must buy the official logo of the Ministry of Tourism for $2-$3. Then we buy the shirts and sew the logo onto them.

Travel agencies know the good and the bad tour guides. They hand out questionnaires to their clients, and if you receive too many bad reviews, they will not book you again. All agencies have their favourite guides and want to book them, but if they are unavailable, the agencies must decide for their second, third or, in the peak season, their 100th choice.

Full story here.

Two travel stories on Angkor

noelbynature — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 07:10:57 +0000

Over the weekend newspapers from Malaysia and the Philippines featured travel stories on Angkor.

photo credit:

Kingdom of the Khmers
The Star, 21 January 2012

The light of Angkor Wat
The Philippine Star, 22 January 2012

As far as I know, the two newspapers aren’t related!

Minister pushes for more tourist-friendly Bukit Tengkorak

noelbynature — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 00:05:33 +0000

The Malaysian tourism minister calls for extra efforts to make the Bukit Tengkorak Archaeological Site in Sabah a more marketable (and perhaps profitable?) tourism product.

Bukit Tengkorak Archeological Site Needs Added Value As Tourism Product
Bernama, 18 October 2011

Bukit Tengkorak Archeological Heritage Site should be given added value to make it an attractive tourism
product to tourists.

Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen said efforts should be undertaken to attract more tourists to visit the archeological site and museum costing RM4.2mil.

“This product has so much potential. Visitors who come here and explore places while waiting for transport to the resort islands,” she told reporters after climbing the 152 metre high archeological site recently.

Full story here.

Tourist limits on Angkor are 'long overdue'

noelbynature — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 00:35:41 +0000

I’ve featured a number of number of similar stories like this on the increasing numbers of tourists visiting Angkor. It’s interesting to note that five years ago, the annual number of visitors was like 600,000. This year’s count is expected to be 2.5 million.

Cambodia’s ancient wonders suffer modern ills
AP, via Forbes.com, 12 July 2011

“Nobody should be allowed to walk on 1,000-year-old stones,” says Jeff Morgan, executive director of the U.S.-based Global Heritage Fund.

He says limits on tourists at the temples are decades overdue.

The influx hastens the deterioration of edifices already buffeted by invasive tropical vegetation and monsoon rains. The relentless tread of feet and the fumes from heavy traffic wear away the soft sandstone. Oily fingers harm the magnificent bas reliefs. Noisy crowds rob visitors of near-mystical moments of quiet contemplation or the chance to imagine they are jungle explorers discovering a lost city.

Too many tourists are not Angkor’s only woe.

The UNESCO World Heritage Site and its gateway town of Siem Reap are also beset by crass development, alleged corruption and endlessly delayed plans on how best to preserve the temples.

Full story here.

Asia's heritage sites strain under the weight of tourism

noelbynature — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 00:57:08 +0000

Tourism to ancient heritage sites is a major source of income for many Asian nations, but the signs of wear and tear to the monuments are fast becoming visible.

photo credit: bob|P-&-S

Tourist Boom Puts Asia’s Treasures at Risk
AFP, via Jakarta Globe, 08 March 2011

As the world recovers from the financial crisis and infrastructure in developing countries improves, the number of people drawn to Asiaâ€™s cultural and natural riches has exploded.

While this brings in much-needed revenue, observers fear that the growth in tourism is putting unprecedented pressure on precious and often fragile World Heritage sites.

At Angkor Wat, the most impressive of the parkâ€™s many temples, tourists are largely free to wander around the 12th-century complex, ignoring one-way signs and clambering over fallen stones.

Many lean against the ancient walls, while others trace delicate bas reliefs with their fingers.

â€œYou start to notice a little bit of wear and tear and youâ€™re not sure if itâ€™s from centuries of use or if itâ€™s from lots of tourists,â€ said Rona Soranno, 36, from California, after completing a tour of the templeâ€™s inner courtyard.

Her 33-year-old partner Marcus Welsh added: â€œOn the one hand itâ€™s totally awesome that I am able to step on the stones and be close to so much history, but you have to wonder what itâ€™s going to look like years from now.â€

Angkor revenues up 20 percent

noelbynature — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 13:31:24 +0000

The Apsara Authority reports a rise in tourist revenues for entry into the Angkor Archaeological Park year-on-year to the end of October.

photo credit: HSNUHOW

Angkor Wat revenues rise more than 20%
Xinhua, 09 November 2010

Angkor Wat ticket sales revenue rose more than 20 percent so far this year to the end of October, compared with the same period last year, local media reported on Tuesday, citing the Apsara Authority.

The Phnom Penh Post quoted Director General Bun Narith as saying that political stability, good security and economic recovery had led to an increase in tourists visiting the temples, but he did not give exact revenue figures.

The figures he offered before showed that the 2009 revenue from ticket sales dropped to around 27 million U.S. dollars from nearly 30 million U.S. dollars in 2008.

Bun Narith said most tourists visiting Angkor Wat this year were from the region such as Vietnam, Singapore and South Korea, but the number of tourists from Western countries was growing slowly.

Council appointed to promote Preah Vihear

noelbynature — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 00:29:04 +0000

A council has been appointed to oversee the tourism development of Preah Vihear.

Govt touts Preah Vihear tourism
Phnom Penh Post, 20 April 2010

The government has created a council to oversee the development of Preah Vihear temple into a tourism destination, according to the most recent Royal Work Book, which was published earlier this month.

The new council will oversee the existing Preah Vihear National Authority. According to a copy of a February sub-decree signed by Prime Minister Hun Sen, the chairman and councillors were selected with an eye towards the goal of promoting the authorityâ€™s work in developing and protecting the temple.

Hang Sot, director of the authority and a member of the newly appointed body, said the council was expected to give advice to the authority on what needs to be done to turn the temple complex into an appealing tourism destination.

Visitors return to Preah Vihear

noelbynature — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 00:23:12 +0000

With the withdrawal of troops from the Preah Vihear temple, authorities have noted increased visitor numbers to the temple, a quarter of which are foreign visitors.

photo credit: duhangst

Tourists pour into Preah Vihear
Phnom Penh Post, 03 September 2009

Preah Vihear temple has seen a flood of tourists in the past few days, a trend officials are attributing to the drawdown of troops there that was completed over the weekend.

Om Phirom, chief of the temple’s Heritage Police, said Tuesday that there had been about 200 Cambodian tourists and 50 foreign tourists venturing to the World Heritage site daily for the past four days, adding that the foreigners included Chinese, Japanese and European visitors.

By comparison, he said, the temple received about 100 Cambodian and 50 foreign tourists each month during the 13-month standoff with Thailand over the disputed complex.

Soon: Shopping at Bagan

noelbynature — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 00:17:52 +0000

While we’re on the topic of Bagan, it seems that the Myanmar Hoteliers’ Association will start a night market selling local handicrafts and goods in the upcoming tourist season starting on October. I wonder how this will this will make the ruins of the ancient city more alive at night and if the increased activity might pose a threat to the ruins.

photo credit: antwerpenR

Myanmar To Use Night Bazaar In Ancient City To Attract Tourists
Bernama, 27 August 2009

The Myanmar Hoteliers Association ( MHA) will add night bazaar in the ancient city of Bagan during this year to attract more world travellers to the tourist site and provide a nice shopping place for them, sources with the MHA said on Thursday.

Quoting the sources, China’s Xinhua news agency said that the move will be implemented in coming travel season starting October.

In the 2-hour night bazaar, which scheduled to run from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., the shops will display local art products, such as lacquer ware, bamboo works and beautiful local made cloth, food stuff, ancient handicrafts and gifts.

There are four hotel zones in Bagan made up of 91 hotels, motels and inns which have been upgraded to serve visitors, it added.

Cambodian officials refute damage by light fixtures; Angkor revenues down 20%

noelbynature — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 01:05:18 +0000

Cambodian officials have denied that holes were drilled into the walls of Angkor Wat for the installation of light fixtures, which will allow visitors into Angkor until 8.30 at night. The lights are also said to be solar powered, rather than tapping onto the existing electricity grid. Can any recent visitors to Angkor confirm this? It’d be interesting to see how the light setup looks like, and how the atmosphere of the ancient temples change at night. This recent push to extend Angkor’s opening hours comes at a time when visitor revenues have dropped 20% in the first quarter of the year. The Apsara Authority blames the political instability in Thailand for the drop in revenue, but I also suspect that it’s the global downturn that’s having a significant role in the depressed tourism numbers.

photo credit: mckaysavage

New lighting for night visits at Angkor Wat ‘will not damage’ site
Earth Times, 3 June 2009

Angkor Wat revenues down 20pc in Q1
Phnom Penh Post, 2 June 2009

A Cambodian government official on Wednesday rejected claims that the installation of new lights at the 12th-century Angkor Wat temple would cause damage to the building’s structure. Phay Siphan, spokesman of the Cambodian Council of Ministers spokesman, told reporters in the northern town of Siem Reap that reports of large sections of stone being removed for the lighting installation were false.

“This accusation that new holes were created simply is not true,” he said. “The installation will not involve any new holes being drilled.”

He said an official from UNESCO had visited Angkor Wat and approved the new lights, which are part of a drive to attract evening visitors to the temple.