About 90 percent of hotel and guesthouse rooms in Siem Reap province are booked during the upcoming Khmer New Year, during the 10-year anniversary of the Angkor Sangkranta festival.

Other major provinces are also expecting to welcome scores of local and foreign tourists, with the hope of a high rise in the number of international visitors in the run up to the SEA Games and ASEAN Para Games, hosted in Cambodia in May and June.

Top Sopheak, Spokesperson of the Ministry of Tourism, told Kiripost on Wednesday that approximately 90 percent of hotels and guesthouses in Siem Reap province have been booked already.

“For some other provinces, we still cannot estimate the number [of booked rooms]. Some rooms have been booked, and some [rooms] also are not booked yet since some citizens are waiting until they go to the provinces and book the rooms there directly,” he said.

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“For Siem Reap province, because there will be the anniversary of the 10-year celebration of the Angkor Sangkranta, rooms are almost full now,” he added.

During the festive period, tourists may face challenges due to a lack of rooms, especially in target provinces that host big events, such as Siem Reap province.

“Siem Reap will face a lack of accommodation for tourists. However, I believe that our citizens will not only go to one crowded place, they might travel from one province to another. Sometimes they might visit that place but they are not going to stay in that province. They might sleep in other bordering provinces,” he said.

People leave Phnom Penh for their hometown for the Khmer New Year. Kiripost/Siv Channa

Besides Siem Reap, Battambang, Pursat and Kampong Cham provinces, and the coastal areas of Sihanoukville, Kep and Kampot, are expected to attract more tourists during Khmer New Year.

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Hang Vannak, Manager & Group Revenue Manager of Dara Hotels Group and Sokha Hotels, said Sokha hotel in Siem Reap province is already fully booked for April 14 and 15. Sokha Angkor Resort is currently 80 percent full.

“Sokha Angkor Resort opens only 150 rooms since we aren’t fully operational yet. Around 70 to 80 percent are already booked,” he said.

Among the total number of guests booked at the hotel, 80 percent Cambodian tourists and 20 percent international tourists.

He also noticed that before Khmer New Year, normally there are more international tourists who stay at the hotel than local tourists.

Chhay Sivlin, President of Cambodia Association of Travel Agents (CATA), mentioned that almost all the hotels and guesthouse rooms in Siem Reap province are booked fully now.

“Hotel bookings are for both national and international tourists. But mostly the national tourists have already booked the rooms,” she said.

She has high expectations that Cambodia can welcome more than four million international tourists following the plan of the Ministry of Tourism. This estimation is according to the upcoming SEA Games and ASEAN Para Games.

meas.molika@kiripost.com