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Cambodia: Regional reopenings put pressure to follow suit
Tourists are starting to return across the region, putting pressure on Cambodia to re-open its doors to foreign visitors. Prime Minister Hun Sen is considering dropping national restrictions and border controls, depending on whether Covid-19 remains under control following last week’s three-day Pchum Ben holiday.
Many Cambodians had the full week off and toured the country, visiting popular destinations including Siem Reap, where red quarantine zones were scrapped just before Pchum Ben. More than 35,000 tourists visited Angkor Wat from Tuesday through Thursday. Across the country there were more than 664,000 domestic tourists over the three days.
“If the situation remains as it is for the next 10 to 15 days, then I think it is time to reopen the economy, and society, across all sectors under the new normal concept,” Mr Hun Sen said.
Current restrictions, continuing the closure of bars, suspending alcohol sales and limiting diners in restaurants were extended for one week last Thursday, running to Oct 14. Foreign visas are presently only available for business travellers, who have to undergo a 14-day hotel quarantine, that can cost around a returnable $2,000 dollars, minus the accommodation costs. The economic benefits of easing the restrictions would be huge, according to Jayant Menon, visiting senior fellow at the ISEAS Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore.
“In 2019, the contribution of travel and tourism to Cambodia’s gross domestic product was the highest in ASEAN, at almost a third. Therefore, there are significant direct and indirect economic effects on growth and employment from reopening to tourism. Although it is estimated that an average one in 10 jobs is linked to tourism globally, it could be as high as one in four in heavily tourism-dependent countries such as Cambodia. Furthermore, it could have a disproportionately positive impact on vulnerable and low-income workers and help reverse the doubling in poverty since the start of the pandemic,” he said.
Early signs that Covid will remain manageable after Pchum Ben are promising. Only 258 new Coronavirus infections were reported yesterday compared with 1,130 when Covid peaked at the end of June. “If the results from this holiday are under control, I believe the government will open [the country] for safe tourists.
The standard operating procedures [for safe tourism] and many other protocols have been well-prepared by the Ministry of Tourism and the Ministry of Health,” said Thuorn Sinan, chairman of the Cambodia chapter of the Pacific Asia Tourism Association. Cambodia has double-vaccinated nearly three quarters of its about 16.5 million people, well on the way to achieving herd immunity from Covid.
Less vaccinated ASEAN nations are opening up. Domestic flights resumed in Vietnam on Sunday with most tickets sold out. The tourist island of Phu Quoc will start admitting foreign tourists from Nov 20. Vietnam has only vaccinated just over a quarter of the population.
Also on Sunday Malaysia lifted international travel restrictions on fully vaccinated locals. Two thirds of the population have had two shots of vaccine. Last month Langkawi was opened to domestic travellers, starting a travel bubble experiment that may include Melaka, Tioman Island and Genting Highlands. No date has been set for foreign arrivals but Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob has suggested an ASEAN-plus-China travel bubble for fully-vaccinated visitors.
Thailand has fully vaccinated fewer than half of the population but more than three quarters of locals on Phuket have received two jabs. Daily Covid cases on the tourist island have dropped to around 100. Phuket started welcoming back fully vaccinated foreigners in July and extended visas to all countries. Thailand has already extended the sandbox scheme to other islands and wants to open up other parts of the country, including Bangkok, from next month.
Source: https://www.khmertimeskh.com/50949673/regional-reopenings-put-pressure-to-follow-suit/