In a three-hour meeting yesterday, lawmakers grilled Minister of Tourism Thong Kong about the lack of transparency surrounding ticket sales to the Angkor Archaeological Park and the amount shared with Cambodia’s national budget.
About 30 parliamentarians and senior members of the ministry met at the National Assembly at the request of Nhem Ponharith, an opposition MP who chairs the Assembly’s commission of education, religious affairs, culture and tourism.
Ticket sales are currently handled by the Apsara Authority, a private contractor, rather than by the ministry, Khon said after the sit-down. The agreement has long been disparaged by critics, who say the government isn’t getting its fair cut. But given the number of other responsibilities that fall under his ministry’s purview, taking over ticket sales at Angkor Wat is not a desired task, Khon said.
Last year, 4.2 million tourists came to Cambodia, Khon said, which earned private industries such as hotels, restaurants and transportation revenues of more than $2.5 billion and created about 500,000 jobs. Projections show that by the year 2020, Cambodia should welcome between 7 million and 8 million tourists, who will bring about $5 billion to the Kingdom’s economy and create some 1 million jobs. The Minister of Culture is due at the Assembly for questioning on November 26.
