Local charter carrier Tonle Sap Airlines has suspended flights until June, in what appears to be the latest of a series of disruptions affecting the airline, which has also recently encountered financial turbulence.
The airline, which operates chartered flights from Siem Reap to China, Taipei, and Hong Kong, has suspended its services since April 29, and plans to resume them after June 3, the Taipei Times wrote last month. Chartered flights are typically hired via private arrangements with large tour groups or companies, while scheduled flights operate on fixed schedules. …
Since this period is not Cambodia’s peak tourism season, [Air Explore Airlines CEO Martin Stulajter] speculated that Tonle Sap chose to suspend flights instead of “having its planes sitting there doing nothing”.
But finance issues appear to have fueled Tonle Sap’s decision too. Tonle Sap ceased operations “with the intention of refinancing” itself, aviation website Ch-aviation said, without giving further details. …
In February 2012, a plane leased by Tonle Sap was grounded after its lessor, a Taiwanese airline, said Tonle Sap still owed it about $105,000, leaving more than 200 tourists stranded for ten hours. In September 2011, a flight suspension by the airline left over 800 tourists stuck in China.
India’s ambassador to Cambodia, Dinesh Patnaik, said yesterday that his government will pay outstanding benefits to about 30 restoration workers who lost their jobs at Siem Reap province’s Ta Prohm temple in February – but will not reinstate them.
The entire restoration team – more than 100 workers – protested in February, claiming that workers, some of them union representatives, had been unfairly dismissed and replaced with about 25 other workers. …
Dave Welsh, American Center for International Labor Solidarity country manager, said the ambassador had told him during a recent meeting that Indian authorities would meet their financial obligations. …
Welsh said ASI had previously believed it had not entered into an employer/employee relationship and was not subject to the Kingdom’s Labor Law. …
Cambodia’s tourist arrivals registered a 19.9% growth in February according to the country’s statistics and tourist Information Department.
The country welcomed 385,760 visits compared to 321,870 during the same month in 2012.
Released by the Ministry of Tourism, Monday, data showed neighbouring Vietnam was the top supplier with 58,750 visits, an increase of 4.4% over 56,297 visits in February last year. …
In February, 52.8% (203,453) of all international visitors arrived by air. Siem Reap airport received the major share, 34.9% (134,465), while Phnom Penh Airport received just 17.9% (68,988) mainly business travellers who needed to contact government departments or budget travellers who starting or finishing their overland trips. …
Data hints of the massive imbalance between tourist arrivals to Siem Reap and the rest of the country. The tourism authority has urged travel enterprises to provide more information and tour programmes on other destinations to encourage visitors to Angkor Wat to explore the country in more detail. …
Cambodia Angkor Air is planning rapid fleet and network expansion as competition intensifies in the Cambodian market. The Cambodian flag carrier is expected to more than double its fleet by the end of 2015 and launch services to several new markets, including mainland China, Hong Kong, India and South Korea. Cambodia Angkor Air was established in 2009 as a joint venture with Vietnam Airlines but remains one of the smallest flag carriers in Southeast Asia, only operating domestically and to two neighbouring countries.
Cambodia Angkor Air has already seen its most dramatic expansion in its four-year history, launching three international routes over the last six months. Further rapid expansion of Cambodia Angkor Air and the planned launch of a second Cambodian scheduled carrier that will be affiliated with Philippine Airlines (PAL) should lead to more rapid growth in the Cambodian market. The Cambodian passenger market grew by 18% in 2012 and by 21% in 1Q2013, based on figures from Cambodia Airports. …
Cambodia Angkor Air currently accounts for only 15% of international capacity in Cambodia, lower than the home market penetration of any Southeast Asian flag carrier. It is also the smallest of Southeast Asia’s flag carriers based on fleet size and the second smallest based on seat capacity. …
Cambodia Angkor Air currently operates a fleet of three A321s and two ATR 72s to only three domestic and three international destinations. It has a smaller share of capacity in Cambodia’s international market than close partner and shareholder Vietnam Airlines. Its 15% share is also only slightly larger than the 11% share from Bangkok Airways and AirAsia. …
In diversifing its holiday attractions, Cambodia’s tourism industry should focus on three key areas – the country’s northeastern region, the coasts and the vicinity around Siem Reap – but efforts to promote these destinations are still lacking, an industry leader says. …
Statistics from the Ministry of Tourism show that Siem Reap attracted 2.06 million international visitors last year. International tourists stayed an average of 6.3 days in Cambodia, the shortest duration since 2005, and down from the decade’s high of 6.65 days in 2008. …
To boost tourism, he suggested that tour operators also promote northeastern Cambodia, and list “details of all possible access into this area”. The area encompasses Ratanakkiri, Mondulkiri, Stung Treng and Kratie provinces, and boasts waterfalls, wildlife and the culture of ethnic minority groups, he [Tek Reth Samrach, secretary of state at the Council of Ministers and chairman of Cambodia Angkor Air] said….
The French Development Agency (AFD) said yesterday it is discussing an approximately 50 million euro ($65 million) loan to extend electricity transmission lines, and said it plans to provide more loans for vocational training in the Kingdom.
“We are discussing [the] loan . . . that we could give to EDC [Electricité du Cambodge] for the finance of a 200-kilometres transmission line (high tension) and a 200-kilometres line of medium tension [22KW] in the provinces of Koh Kong (between Koh Kong and Srea Ambel) and between Kampong Cham and Kratie,” Julien Darpoux, program officer for Cambodia and Laos from the French Development Agency, told the Post yesterday. …
Now only 24 to 25 per cent of households in the country have access to electricity, AFD Director André Pouillès-Duplaix said during a press conference. “We have a lot of work to do in this sector.” …
Hotel transaction volumes in Asia hit US$620 million (Bt18.18 billion) in the first quarter, up 190 per cent from the same period last year, and properties in Southeast Asia are attracting investor attention, according to real-estate services company Jones Lang LaSalle.
“Rising visitor arrivals, robust trading performance and positive market dynamics have put emerging Southeast Asian markets such as Vietnam, Cambodia and Myanmar back into the investment spotlight,” Tom Oakden, executive vice president, investment sales, for Jones Lang LaSalle’s Hotels & Hospitality Group, said at a recent industry event co-hosted with Ashurst, the international law firm. …
Neighboring Cambodia, meanwhile, is on the cusp of real economic and tourism growth, with rising visitor arrivals and increasing foreign direct investment from countries such as South Korea, Vietnam and China. …
With limited hotel supply in the key cities of Phnom Penh and Siem Reap and 443 kilometers of unexploited coastline, Cambodia is attracting the attention of both domestic and regional investors and developers. …
A helicopter flight tour to Preah Vihear is just one part of the 10-day Cambodia Immersion for Millionaires Tour launched this week. The cost per person? $25,000.
According to Christopher Gramsch, sales manager for organiser Khiri Travel Cambodia, there is increasing demand among high-spending travellers and calls Cambodia a country with potential.
“What we want to show is that it is possible for even the most high-end clients to be able to experience the same level of luxury and quality that they could in Thailand or Vietnam.”
With its many sites and some high-end accommodation, Cambodia offers potential for luxury tourism. But although demand has been growing, mostly among foreigners, challenges such as a lack of infrastructure and marketing still limit high-end travelling, industry experts say. …
Rubber exports from Cambodia were up over 17 per cent in the first quarter of 2013, but the revenue from rubber stayed steady as prices decline worldwide, according to data from the Ministry of Commerce.
The data showed that in the first quarter of this year, total export increased to 15,019 tonnes from 12,805 tonnes in the same period last year.
However, the price of rubber decreased sharply, by $461 per tonne for the three-month period, from $3,216.52 per tonne in the early part of the year, to $2,755.34 by the end of the quarter. Total revenue reached $41,382,434 so far
this year, compared with $41,187,582 the previous year. …
The US embassy in Phnom Penh intends to hold a webinar on doing business in Cambodia, providing information on the benefits and challenges of working in the country for US firms.
“This is the first webinar that will focus on investment opportunities and an overview of Cambodia’s current business climate,” Sean McIntosh, the US embassy’s publicaffairs officer, told the Post yesterday. …
In 2012, Cambodia’s exports to the US were worth about $2 billion, 36 per cent of the Kingdom’s total exports, according to figures from the Ministry of Economy and Finance.
Furthermore, figures from the Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC) show that from 2005 to 2011, US investment reached about $922 million. …
Cambodia’s Angkor Wat temples, one of the world heritage sites, received 694,700 foreign tourists in the first quarter of this year, a 8 percent rise from the same period last year, the statistics of Siem Reap provincial tourism department showed Friday.
The top three countries visiting the temples are South Korea, China, and Vietnam. During the January-March period this year, the temples welcomed some 142,040 South Koreans, up 8 percent; 87,104 Chinese, up 77 percent; and 45,760 Vietnamese, down 39 percent. …
Last year, the temples attracted 2.06 million foreign visitors, up 28 percent year-on-year. Tourism is a main sector supporting the Cambodian economy besides the garment industry, agriculture and the real estate industry.
France said it plans to boost its exports to Cambodia as French foreign direct investment in the country – worth $3.18 million in 2012 – continues to rise, officials said on Wednesday. …
Among this year’s investments, concessions and construction company group Vinci, the largest building firm in the world by revenue, plans to invest $92 million in the Kingdom through its subsidiary Cambodia Airports.
Trade between France and Cambodia was limited last year, worth only 266.8 million euros ($349.16 million), though it had increased from 202.6 million euros in 2011, according to a report from the French embassy.
However, Cambodia’s exports to France accounted for the lion’s share, at 204.8 million euros. Eighty-one per cent of the products France imported from the Kingdom were clothes and shoes. Their value increased by 35 per cent compared with 2011, to 166.4 million euros last year. …
Rising water temperatures are affecting fisheries and marine life, said several representatives of Cambodia’s aquaculture industry, and the effect is decreasing seed production and lowering aquaculture farmers’ productivity.
Say Sorn, president of aquaculture seed production in Siem Reap province, told the Post yesterday that water temperature is an important factor for marine life sustainability. However, temperatures have been rising much higher than in previous years, and this is affecting fish farming in his province. …
Philippe Laurent became secretary-general of Cambodia Airports in May 2008. He was one of six senior executives in charge of the country’s international airports in Phnom Penh, Siem Reap and the little-used facility in Sihanoukville. …
Mr. Laurent is now carrying out a one-man campaign against Cambodia Airports in Cambodia and in France, where Vinci, the company’s major stakeholder, is headquartered. He has lobbied French politicians, the press, and financial regulators. He is doing the same in Cambodia, telling his story to anyone who will listen. …
Cambodia Airports is 70 percent owned by Vinci Group, Europe’s largest construction company, and 30 percent by Muhibbah Masteron (Cambodia). Muhibbah Masteron is 70 percent owned by Malaysia conglomerate Muhibbah Engineering Berhad and 30 percent owned by two Cambodian businessmen, Kong Triv and Hann Khieng. …
Cambodia Airports earns revenues of about $100 million every year through a $25 service charge for every passenger that passes through the airport, as well as landing fees, aircraft cleaning fees, parking tickets, cargo related business, storage facilities, and leasing floor space to airline companies, fuel supply companies and the airport’s catering business. It also earns money from commercial shops inside and outside of terminal buildings. …
“My colleagues and I have worked for several years to try and assassinate the unethical environment of these businesses, but to no avail. We have just discovered a short time ago that we were in a money laundering machine for the management of the group at an international level between the following countries: Cambodia, Malaysia and France,” Mr. Laurent told the senators. …
Cambodia Airports refuted all of Mr. Laurent’s allegations “with the highest firmness.”
“Regarding Philippe Laurent’s allegations, we referred the case to the head office, especially Vinci’s ethical committee and an investigation has been performed. The ethical committee has concluded that the specific allegation raised by Philippe Laurent is without merit,” Khek Norinda, communications director of Cambodia Airports, said in an e-mail. …
With Cambodia Airport’s contract to run for another 27 years, and with tourism the one area of the Cambodian economy assured to see massive growth in that time, and with French and Malaysian companies winning associated lucrative contracts, homegrown business resentment would seem an obvious backdrop to the business environment and Mr. Laurent’s campaign. …
As it transpired, Bouygues settled their dispute out of court with Mr. Laurent for a sum of money that he would not disclose for this article.
Plans are in place for a new $10 million international airport on Koh Rong island, but questions remain as to when construction would commence and when funding would be available.
Designs for the roughly 7,200-square-metre airport terminal, which will consist of Khmer- and resort-style architecture, were completed two years ago, said Edward Billson, managing director of MAP Architects, a Hong Kong-based firm that is handling Koh Rong’s master plan. …
The airport is part of the first phase of Koh Rong’s development plans, which also includes establishing luxury resorts. With 28 beaches, Koh Rong has been billed as Asia’s next big island destination. …
Royal Group was granted a 99-year lease in 2008 from the government to develop the 78-square-kilometre island, along with its partner, Hong Kong real estate company Millennium Group. …
Siem Reap town – one of Cambodia’s biggest tourist destinations – faced yet another power outage yesterday after the provincial energy supplier cut power for 12 hours during the day.
Energy supplier Electricite du Cambodge (EdC) informed residents that power would be cut from 6am to 6pm as repair works on power lines went on across the border in Thailand, much to their chagrin.
Siem Reap requires more than 50 megawatts (MW) of power each day – much of which comes from Thailand, said Cheam Korsen, provincial EdC director, who added that during the cut yesterday, only 10MW was available. …
Asia and the Pacific continued as a hot spot for international tourism in 2012, attracting what is expected to be in excess of 350 million international visitor arrivals, expanding its collective inbound count by more than 5% and generating more than 18 million additional foreign visits, year-on-year. …
Within this sub-region, Myanmar had a staggering increase of almost 52% in arrivals, while Cambodian and Lao PDR reported gains of 24% and 22% respectively. …
According to the figures by the Ministry of Tourism, the number of visitor arrival in 2012 was 3,584,307, an increase of 25 percent in comparing to 2011 and earned 2 billion US dollars for nation income this year. Through tourism industry, it created 350,000 labor forces and in 2015, it is expected that it will attract about 4.5 million foreign investors and in 2020, it could reach to 7 million. …
2012 has been an impressive year for Cambodia’s economic resilience. Among the many sectors that had positively grown are the construction and property development [sic] and they are expected to be among the highest growth achievers in the current year as well. …
In 2012, the Ministry of Land Management recorded investments on construction had grown by 72 percent to US$2,109 million for 1,694 projects covering 6.5 million square meters, an increase from the previous US$1.2 billion for 2,125 projects covering 4.2 million square meters in 2011. …
Amid the last year’s strong recovery, construction on residential projects such as ‘Borey’ and apartments claimed a large proportion (about 70 percent off the total projects) and is likely to surge higher responding to the growing local populations (about 10,000 new families are added to Phnom Penh annually), along with more incoming foreign nationals for living and business purposes which require more residential supplies. …
Due to development disparity, growth varies between zones. The property market recovery has appeared vigorously only at the popular industrialized zones such as Phnom Penh’s downtown, leaving the low industrialized areas like suburbs and rural areas less commercialized. …
With more investors coming, Kheng observes now international firms are competing with the local property developers as they begin to understand more about the local markets, knowledge which they previously lacked. …
The important thing in this property business, according to Cheng Kheng is having accurate data. “The key to improve this industry is to have a one-stop recording center where all transactions have been recorded properly and published to the public. In that way, it will be easier for the public to keep themselves up-to-date with the market.” …
Travelers bound for Cambodia can now take direct flights from Ha Noi to both Phnom Penh and Siem Reap via new routes launched by Cambodia Angkor Air. …
Along with the official opening of a representative office in Ha Noi late last month, Angkor Air also announced direct flights Phnom Penh – Bangkok and Siem Reap – Bangkok, with rates starting at $59. …
Cambodia’s national electricity provider yesterday appealed to the public to unplug from the national energy supply in an effort to alleviate chronic seasonal power shortages that are causing blackouts across Phnom Penh and the rest of the country.
Eletricite du Cambodge (EdC) published an announcement asking people with back-up generators- most likely businesses- to use their own power supplies so that electricity could be freed up for the rest of the population. …
Last week, the Edc said that the 190-megawatt Kamchay dam in Kampot province- Cambodia’s only large-scale online hydropower dam- was operating at only 10 percent capacity due to a lack of water, which was a significant cause of the blackouts. …
Cambodia’s steady economic growth has caused a spike in demand, and electricity shortages have been compounded, according to the announcement, by a shortfall in the amount of energy Vietnam had promised to sell to Cambodia.
“Of the 250 Megawatts promised to us by Vietnam, only 170 megawatts were made available due to Vietnam’s own shortages,” the statement says.
Any demands the EdC is making on the public to switch off power are short-term, it said, as a new coal-fired power plant in Preah Sihanouk province is planned to go online in June, while the rainy season will refill hydropower capacity. …
In the meantime, the EdC said it is taking its own steps, including increasing the operating times of the Kamchay dam and Kompong Speu’s Kirirom dam. It will purchase more electricity in the next few days from Thailand.
“We are getting 15 megawatts from Thailand to supply Phnom Penh,” the announcement says, adding that it hoped in the next week to buy another 10-megawatts from neighboring countries, and to add a further 10-megawatts before Khmer News Year in April. …
