Temple price hike criticised

geovalin · December 15, 2017

Business leaders in the tourism sector have expressed deep dissatisfaction with the recent increase in ticket prices for Kampong Thom’s archeological site Sambor Prei Kuk, arguing that the price hike comes too soon after the temples were given word heritage status by Unesco, and have called on the authorities to reverse the move. The National Authority for Sambor Prei Kuk announced last month that the admission fee for Sambor Prei Kuk will be raised from $3 to $10 for foreigners starting on January 1.

Sambor Prei Kuk, known as Ishanapura in Sanskrit, is the ancient capital of the Chenla Empire. The temple was listed as a Unesco word heritage site in July this year. Thourn Sinan, chairman of the Pacific Area Travel Association (PATA), told Khmer Times that it is too early to raise ticket prices for the temple complex, arguing that the move will hurt tour operators who usually design their tour packages as early as six months in advance and now cannot change their prices to account for the new entrance fee.

“The authorities should have waited at least one year to raise the price to accommodate the needs of tour operators,” Mr Sinan said. Chhay Sivlin, the president of the Cambodia Association of Travel Agents (CATA), shared the same sentiment.

read more http://www.khmertimeskh.com/5096123/temple-price-hike-criticised/