via South China Morning Post, 06 June 2020 (other stories below): Covid-19 is an extraordinary situation with its bright sides and negatives. Siem Reap’s tourism economy has been decimated, but the Apsara Authority has been busy working with restoration of monuments and park regeneration.
With only 654 foreigners visiting the temples in April 2020, each day saw an average of 22 international visitors in a 400 sq km complex that includes more than 150 significant monuments.
Angkor park today seems more empty than it was in the early 2000s, before foreign tourists began visiting in large numbers, according to Long Kosal, a spokesman for the Apsara Authority, which manages the temple complex.
“To see Angkor empty, it’s strange and extraordinary,” says Kosal. But on the plus side, the lack of visitors is allowing the Apsara Authority to get planned maintenance work, such as tree planting and road restoration, done early, he says. “We’re making preparations for when tourists come back.”
See also:
- Angkor marks 65 percent drop in foreign visitors in five months | Khmer Times, 02 June 2020
- Cambodia’s Angkor Wat Temple deserted in lockdown | BBC, 05 June 2020
- Cambodians Reclaim Angkor Wat as Global Lockdowns Continue to Bite | The Diplomat, 09 June 2020
- Cambodians Revel in Now Tourist-Free Angkor Wat | VOA Khmer, 14 June 2020
