More safety measures in place as tourism rises in Cambodia

PHNOM PENH, May 25, 2020, The Khmer Times. The Ministry of Tourism will put in place additional measures in order to contain the coronavirus pandemic spread this week after local tourists have restarted travelling to eco-tourism destinations in the country within the last two weeks, according to Minister of Tourism, The Khmer Times reported.

Thong Khon, Minister of Tourism said that during two weeks of May, the movement of local travelling has gradually rebounded with 250,000 visitors travelling to the country’s eco-tourism attractions, of which more than 4,000 were foreign visitors.

“We have noted that local people and foreign visitors mostly travelled to eco-tourism in Preah Sihanouk, Kampot and Kep provinces,” he said.

The minister said that with this trend, the Ministry of Tourism has cooperated with the private sector to introduce special standard measures for the industry, adding to the Ministry of Health’s guidelines. He said the guidelines will be complied with for all tourism-related businesses such as tour guides, resorts, tour communities, hotels and restaurants.

Ministry spokesman Top Sopheak told Khmer Times that the measures will be introduced at end of May. He said restaurants will be targeted the most because they can attract huge numbers of people.

“The measure will be limited to social distancing inside the restaurant or food venture, which is currently being ignored,” he said, “We will require all business owners to limit seating and we will instruct all restaurants how to keep food safely, how to serve food and improve hospitality,” he said.

According to Sopheak, the measure will help to facilitate the operation of businesses better than force them to entirely close. “I think they do not follow instructions, they will face being closed down,” he said.

So far restaurant and food stalls are not on the list of potential banning. However, the beer service-based restaurants and beer gardens, where many gather are. Anecdotally, things appear to be returning to normal although temperature checks, alcohol-based sanitisers and screens separating customers and staff are still common, as is wearing face masks.

The Cambodian authorities have noted that after the country appeared to escape the potentially devastating effects of COVID-19 some people have thrown caution to the wind and are ignoring safety guidelines because they no longer fear getting infected.

Phnom Penh governor last week warned that any restaurants which do not follow health guidelines to prevent the spread of COVID-19 would be temporarily closed until they comply with regulations.

Chhay Sivlin, president of the Cambodia Association of Travel Agents, said that most of the travelling is conducted by people in their own region only.

“I have travelled a lot during this time and I noted that most visitors are local people in their region. They go outside to relieve stress and the boredom of being stuck at home. We haven’t seen many visitors from across the province yet,” he said adding that it will take months for wider trade to fully bounce back.

“We will focus locally first and the Ministry of Tourism is now preparing to boost local tourism. I think that will take several months to bounce back and a year for regional travel to return to normal,” she said.

COVID-19 has affected a total of 630,000 people in the tourism sector, of which 10,000 were tour operators, 10,000 worked at hotels, about 6,000 were tour guides and others worked in restaurants.

“The measure will be limited to social distancing inside the restaurant or food venture, which is currently being ignored,” he said, “We will require all business owners to limit seating and we will instruct all restaurants how to keep food safely, how to serve food and improve hospitality,” he said.

According to Sopheak, the measure will help to facilitate the operation of businesses better than force them to entirely close. “I think they do not follow instructions, they will face being closed down,” he said.

So far restaurant and food stalls are not on the list of potential banning. However, the beer service-based restaurants and beer gardens, where many gather are. Anecdotally, things appear to be returning to normal although temperature checks, alcohol-based sanitisers and screens separating customers and staff are still common, as is wearing face masks.

The Cambodian authorities have noted that after the country appeared to escape the potentially devastating effects of COVID-19 some people have thrown caution to the wind and are ignoring safety guidelines because they no longer fear getting infected.

Phnom Penh governor last week warned that any restaurants which do not follow health guidelines to prevent the spread of COVID-19 would be temporarily closed until they comply with regulations.

Chhay Sivlin, president of the Cambodia Association of Travel Agents, said that most of the travelling is conducted by people in their own region only.

“I have travelled a lot during this time and I noted that most visitors are local people in their region. They go outside to relieve stress and the boredom of being stuck at home. We haven’t seen many visitors from across the province yet,” he said adding that it will take months for wider trade to fully bounce back.

“We will focus locally first and the Ministry of Tourism is now preparing to boost local tourism. I think that will take several months to bounce back and a year for regional travel to return to normal,” she said.

COVID-19 has affected a total of 630,000 people in the tourism sector, of which 10,000 were tour operators, 10,000 worked at hotels, about 6,000 were tour guides and others worked in restaurants.

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