AsiaLIFE

The first impression for most tourists coming to Cambodia is the row of near-identical hotels stretching along the road from the airport towards Siem Reap. Nearly all these hotels bear the name of Angkor somewhere in their title, and for many foreign visitors, this is also their last impression. Two days of scrambling around the true treasures of Angkor, they find themselves returning along the same airport road to continue their holiday elsewhere, having on average spent less than three days in the country. If Cambodia is truly to become an international tourist destination, with Siem Reap as its flagship, tourists need to be persuaded to stay longer. Mark Jackson asks those in the know what should be the future direction for Cambodia's tourism industry.

Nataly Wanhoff is in an excellent position to talk about the perception of Cambodia in the world-wide tourist market. Before heading up Exotissimo Travel, one of the country's leading inbound and outbound travel companies, she worked for Ikarus Tours, trying to persuade her fellow Germans that Cambodia was an ideal holiday destination. "Ninety percent of Germans had no idea of what to do in Cambodia apart from Angkor," she says. Most didn't even know that it had a coastline, she adds.

Sharee Bauld, a tourism consultant working for MPDF, a World Bank funded organisation that helps to facilitate effective partnerships between the government and the private sector, is even more slating. "The reality is that most people don't know where Angkor Wat is," she says, adding that many potential overseas tourists have the misconception that it is in Thailand. According to Sharee, there is a false sense of complacency within Cambodia that Angkor Wat sells itself.

Even if this is true for the temples, it is not the case for either the town of Siem Reap or Cambodia as a whole. Despite the marked increase in tourism arrivals this year, and the efforts of tour companies like Exotissimo to get tourists to stay longer, the average length of stay is still just two nights. Enough time to visit the temples, have a bite to eat and do a bit of shopping down the market, but not much else.

Indochina add-on

"Lots of people seem to use Cambodia as an add-on to their holidays in Thailand or Vietnam," says Steve Brady, whose company Travel Indochina promotes Cambodia as a destination on its own right through tradeshows in Australia. It's a view shared by both Nataly and Sabine Schneider, the office manager of Diethelm Travel, a company specialising more in the 40-plus European tourist market.

They all also agree that once people do come here, they want to stay longer. The feedback they get from their customers is that they did not know there was so much to do in Cambodia. Raphael Guillien, the general manager of the Victoria Angkor Resort & Spa says that guests always ask him, "Why don't we have enough time to do that?"

According to Sabine it's the friendliness of the Cambodian people that amazes visitors most of all. "The Cambodian people always leave a good impression," she says. "They are outstandingly friendly." Tourists come for the temples, but stay for the people.

Iconic Angkor

Why is Cambodia, with its friendly people and one of the world's greatest treasures, failing to lure tourists into staying longer than two nights? The answer in part lies in its branding. "If there is a brand for Cambodia, it is Angkor Wat," says Nataly. Images of a glorious sunrise or sunset over Angkor dominate the tourism literature pervading the trade fairs and travel agent showrooms around the world. Even Nataly's own company's brochure promoting Cambodian adventure tourism has a picture of the sunset at Angkor alongside a man on a bicycle.

While admitting that the Angkor brand provides something that people can readily identify with - "it is pretty iconic" as Steve puts it - Nataly wishes that images promoting Cambodia's tourism were more eclectic. Drawing a parallel with India's tourism campaigns, she observes that while the image of the Taj Mahal is dominant, there are also photographs of tigers, the River Ganges, women dancing, snake charmers and paradise beaches. The statement is loud and clear - India has more to offer than just a magnificent building.

Staying Another Day

According to Sharee, this is something that MPDF and the Ministry of Tourism endeavoured to do at this year's ITB trade fair in Berlin. Instead of focusing on Angkor, the Cambodian stall emphasised other aspects of the country's tourism appeal such as shopping, nature, dining, its culture and the beach.

It also lies at the heart of their Stay Another Day campaign. Again, working in tandem with the government and building on their Things to do Besides the Temples brochure, the campaign focuses on other activities away from the temple complex. It has received widespread praise within the industry and has benefited the organisations - 17 in Siem Reap and 24 in the rest of the country - represented in the campaign's brochure. Sharee mentions one organisation, Handicap International Belgium, which has seen monthly donations to its information centre rise from US$30 in June 2006, when the campaign started, to an average of US$1,300. MPDF plans to expand the campaign early next year by incorporating more regional organisations.

For Kate Lloyd-Williams, who manages the tourism department at MPDF, the key for developing tourism in Cambodia is to develop one "core message" away from the Angkor brand. This should be promoted both by the public and private sectors.

Sustainable tourism

This shift away from Angkor coincides with a growing concern shared by tour operators and the managers of the five-star hotels in Siem Reap that the strain being placed on the temples is unsustainable. "People are horrified by the way the temples are not being managed today," says Kate. "There is a genuine concern that this fabulous asset is not being protected properly for the future."

A view commonly held within the Cambodian tourism industry is that sooner rather than later restrictions will be placed on the numbers of people accessing Angkor and the parts that they can clamber over. "I wish to see some restrictions imposed on the sites," says Manfred Ilg, general manager of La Residence, Angkor. This is hardly a novel concept.

Stephane Masse, the general manager of Le Meridien - the closest five-star hotel to the temples - compares the situation at Angkor now to that of the Leaning Tower of Pisa when he was a youth. Then Stephane used to race his friends up to the top of Italy's most famous tourist attraction. Now after years of closure on safety grounds, in order to stabilise but not straighten the lean, the tower has re-opened. There are, however, strict restrictions placed on the numbers of people who can climb it at any one time.

But if the better interest is served by restricting the numbers of people clambering over the temples, how can this be done without affecting the growth of tourism that is the lifeblood of the country's burgeoning economy?

Siem Reap

The answer might lie in branding Siem Reap as a destination in its own right. But what direction should this brand take? Welcoming the opening of the new Angkor Golf resort in November, Stephane feels that along with the existing Phokeethra Country Club, Siem Reap might have a future as a golfing destination. He will promote the new course to his guests as an addition to the temples.

Michael Lim, who manages the Sokha Angkor, sees a slightly different, though compatible direction for the town. He believes that people should "emphasise the health side of Angkor". Citing the historical precedent of Neak Pean, one of the temples in the Angkor complex that was used for medical purposes, he claims that Siem Reap offers the ideal place to "de-stress". His hotel has a spa and meditation room in its basement and offers sessions with Australian meditation instructor Maureen Chang.

Michael also points out the town's great strategic location within the region. A two-hour flight from Singapore and three hours from Hong Kong, Siem Reap is perfectly situated to become a wellness centre. Other attractions that are relatively untapped, at least in the marketing of the country overseas, include the Tonle Sap, Southeast Asia's largest lake. There are also all those temples dotted around the countryside, but not part of the Angkor complex, which do not attract tourists in anywhere near the droves of Angkor Wat.

The Legend of Angkor Wat show, organised by Bayon CM, is another addition that Stephane welcomes. Running from Nov. 24 to Dec. 23 and Jan. 2 to Jan. 27, the event will tell the history of the temple in a sound and light spectacle. For him, the temples' beauty at night, illuminated, but with tourists kept at a safe distance so as to preserve the ruins, is an aspect that should be exploited more.

Thriving Arts Scene

With the opening of the Angkor National Museum also slated for December, Siem Reap will soon have more cultural options for visitors.This, ought to be Siem Reap's future, holds Narisara Murray who runs both McDermott Galleries in Siem Reap. "Angkor is a cultural destination," she says. "Visitors that come here have a natural interest in the arts."

Narisara and her husband the photographer John McDermott opened their first gallery in the grounds of the FCC Angkor in September 2004. According to her, the first two low seasons were tough, but this low season has proved much better. "It's changing," she says.  Certainly the art scene is developing with an increasing number of spaces for contemporary artists and photographers, both Cambodian and international, to exhibit their works. "The contemporary art scene here is amazing," says Narisara.

The couple opened a second photographic gallery in November 2005 in the back alley behind Pub Street, which is fast becoming the town's most hip road. And this month they will take over a third exhibition space next to their original gallery. The new space will feature photography, works of art and sculptures by both Cambodian and international artists such as Meas Sophorn, Mak Remissa, Vincent Broustet, Sasha Constable and Loven Ramos. They have also produced an excellent walking tour map of Siem Reap featuring the art outlets in the town. Narisara says that the annual Angkor Photography Festival, which is growing from year-to-year, is also helping to put Siem Reap on the international arts map.

One of the art venues is the Hotel de la Paix's Arts Lounge. The hotel's designer Bill Bensley, "wanted to give the effect of walking into the temple," according to the hotel's director of sales and marketing, Noelene Henderson. She feels that the hotel's contemporary yet art deco design has achieved the "wow factor" that Bensley was hoping for.

The Arts Lounge is the perfect setting for exhibitions of Khmer and international artists, all of which revolve on a two-monthly basis. In establishing the lounge, the hotel's Khmer owner aimed to "support the revival of Khmer culture". Certainly the reaction of guests to shows by Khmer artists such as Sopheap Pich and Denis Min-Kim has persuaded Noelene to believe that "Siem Reap has every opportunity to develop as a destination for the arts."

Working as a Team

In order that Siem Reap realises its full potential, Noelene says that everyone "needs to work together." By this she means not only public and private sectors but also her partners in the hotel business. The convergence of opinions on the future of the industry seems to indicate that this is happening.

Kate Lloyd-Williams praises the tourism working group, where the government and representatives of the private sector meet, as well as the private sector working group, which MPDF facilitates, as a "constructive forum". Manfred Ilg refers to an informal monthly gathering of the Siem Reap's five-star general managers. It is a good way for them to share their concerns and aspirations.

Destination Cambodia

With all this constructive dialogue and convergent thinking, what are the likely trends for Cambodia as a whole, and not just Siem Reap? Here there would appear to be two schools of thought - tourism follows infrastructure and infrastructure follows tourism. Adherents of the first view believe that Cambodia will not develop until the road and air network, and particularly hotel accommodation, have improved to the extent that the number of tourists coming to Siem Reap can be accommodated elsewhere in the country.

They see the development of the south coast around Sihanoukville as a necessary precursor to the country taking-off as a whole. "Cambodia will not develop as a destination until the south has developed sufficiently to take 70 percent of the rooms in Siem Reap," says Raphael Guillien.

Others within the industry feel that Cambodia is ripe for development now. As the tourists disperse around the country, so the necessary infrastructure will surely follow. Kate says that the key is to "manage expectations" and to change perceptions.

Perceptions and expectations

One such perception is that there is a right and wrong time to come to Cambodia. While the myth is still perpetuated that the dry season is the best time to visit Angkor, tourists will elect to come at this time. However, ask those who live in Siem Reap when the best time to visit the temples is and once again they sing the same song. September, when the cooling rain normally arrives in the late afternoon and not throughout the day as some prospective tourists suspect. September is also notoriously slow, hence the lack of tourists to clutter your day out at the temples.

Raphael invited travel agents to stay at the Victoria during the low season and they were surprised by how pleasant the climate was, he says. Maybe this is the first step. Another step is to market the country in the areas that it is rich. One potential growth area is adventure tourism. Last November, Exotissimo appointed an adventure tourism manager in the country. They have already reaped benefits from this move by a marked increase in such groups electing to come to Cambodia.

Nataly Wanhoff compares the situation here now with Thailand 20 years ago. Then a fresh graduate, she went to the north of Thailand with her parents. It did not matter to anyone in their group that they were sleeping in a wooden hut, or that the only place with electricity was the local karaoke bar.

"Places like Kep, Kampot and Bokor are pretty unique in Southeast Asia. Not a lot of places are left untouched," says Steve Brady. "That's before you start talking about the northeast." He could have added the deserted islands off the southern coast or the Cardamon Mountains.

But by untouched, he also means lacking in five-star hotels and, sometimes, basic infrastructure. The trick is to manage people's expectations before they arrive, which according to Nataly is her job. Or as Nataly says, "tell it as it is, but also tell it as it isn't." The direction for the country's tourism industry would seem to lie as much with niche markets, such as eco-tourism, adventure tourism, cultural tourism and the new fad of volunteer tourism as with the mass tourism of Angkor.

Angkor is a strong image for the nation. It helps to project the country with an iconic brand readily identifiable by international tourist markets. However, it also reflects a past culture, when so much this country has to offer lies more in the present and the future.

Kate believes there should be a paradigm shift from "the past culture to the living culture." "Don't harp on about the past, accentuate the positive!" she says. "That's what we have done with Stay Another Day." Maybe, then, that's the way forward. Promote what Cambodia is now rather than dwelling on the past.