Kampot seaport to boost tourism

[geovalin]

Kampot province, which edges into the Gulf of Thailand, is set to be transformed into a tourist seaport with the construction of an $18 million marine ferry terminal funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), according to officials. Soy Sinol, director of Kampot’s tourism department, told Khmer Times yesterday that the feasibility study and construction plans for the proposed seaport had been completed.

 

“Bidding for the construction work will start this year and the port, with the marine ferry terminal, is set to be completed by the end of 2018 or early 2019,” said Mr. Sinol. According to an ADB report on tourism in the Greater Mekong Subregion, the Kampot ferry terminal, to be located in Kampot’s Tek Chhou district, is expected to service 360,000 international and domestic tourists when it opens in 2018 and 442,000 by 2022.

 

“The development of this passenger pier will support an increase in tourism in southern coastal areas and help establish a new gateway between southern Cambodia, Vietnam and other destinations in the Gulf of Thailand,” said Eric Sidgwick, country director of ADB Cambodia. The ADB approved the $18 million loan in late 2014 and in a statement said the marine ferry terminal and other infrastructure in southern Cambodia will open up new opportunities for tourism beyond current popular destinations like the famous temples of Angkor.

 

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