Siem Reap, Cambodia, 26 May 2003 — Tomorrow (Tuesday, 27 May 2003) at the first annual meeting of the Siem Reap Angkor Hotel and Guest House Association (SRAHGA), the Mekong Private Sector Development Facility (MPDF) will pledge two more years of support to the association. This support, says SRAHGA president, H.E. Sam Heang, is particularly valuable at a time of upheaval in the tourist industry.
“Growth in the industry has been phenomenal in the last few years and an association like SRAHGA is indispensable in bringing together so many different players. In Siem Reap alone there are now 56 hotels and 100 guesthouses and they need a forum where they can exchange ideas and collaborate in solving industry problems. This is even more important now that Cambodia is suffering from a regional slump in tourism.
“The promotion of tourism in Siem Reap is a boon not only to the city itself, but to Cambodia and the region as a whole. Tourists attracted to Siem Reap usually visit other places as well. Tourism is one of Cambodia’s major sources of foreign exchange and directly and indirectly provides thousands of jobs throughout the country.”
With financing from MPDF, an initiative that promotes private sector development in Cambodia, Lao PDR and Vietnam, SRAHGA will be able to continue its activities. These include maintaining its office and staff, arranging seminars and courses for its members, surveying their needs and advocating their concerns to government and other stakeholders.
Most important will be ongoing support for SRAHGA’s website/web portal, www.angkorhotels.org. Launched in October 2002, this links visitors to the individual websites of SRAHGA members where they display photographs of their facility, rate information and a location map. For smaller hotels that do not have a web-linked booking system, SRAHGA takes bookings and confirms them via email within 24 hours. SRAHGA’s website also provides general information about Siem Reap/Angkor and Cambodia as a whole. To make sure that visitors know about the website, SRAHGA advertises it widely in tourism guides and magazines.
In the near future, once air terminal renovations are complete, SRAHGA will staff a counter at the Siem Reap Airport. This will provide a place where visitors with prior bookings can connect with their hotel’s transport, and visitors without bookings can review promotional materials and book a hotel or guesthouse. SRAHGA also provides members with certificates they can display in their lobbies to assure guests of their commitment to excellence.
From a start of just 11 members a year ago, SRAHGA has grown to 42. These comprise 12 hotels, 27 guesthouses and 3 tourism training institutes. In addition to providing each member with a website and other forms of promotion, SRAHGA is working with local tourism training institutes to design and offer relevant staff training at discounted rates. Upcoming courses include ones in front desk operations and hygiene. In the last half of 2003 and in 2004, the Association plans to arrange more training courses, solicit new members, develop accommodation industry standards and a hotel procedures handbook and offer translation and consulting services in conjunction with local professionals.
For further information contact Mr. Thy Hourn, MPDF Business Development Analyst. Telephone: (855)-023-210 922. Email: hthy@ifc.org
Members of the media are invited to attend the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between SRAHGA and MPDF at 4:30 pm, Tuesday 27 May 2003 at the Paul Dubrule Hotel School, Kaksekar Village, Sror Nge Commune, 12206 Siem Reap, Cambodia. Immediately following the ceremony, interviews can be arranged with SRAHGA members and advisers.
