But residents face higher costs, loss of jobs
A report on increased visitation to Sihanoukville, Cambodia called the development a mixed blessing that’s drawn mixed reaction from locals.
The Khmer Times reported that Sihanoukville’s hotel industry will add 1,000 new rooms and 10 new hotels this year because the current inventory of 10,000 rooms cannot accommodate all the visitors.
Data cited on CalvinAyre.com showed that Sihanoukville, often called the “backpacker’s dream town,” welcomed 1 million local tourists and 470,000 foreign visitors in 2017. An estimated 120,000 Chinese visited last year, twice the number that came in 2016, drawn by the province’s 10 casinos.
To meet the new demand, “investors have been investing in budget, mid-range and luxury hotels in 20 different locations,” Tourism Department Director Taing Sochetkrisna told the Times.
But it’s a good news-bad news scenario for residents. According to a report in the Financial Times, Cambodians are upset that incoming Chinese are taking local jobs in a challenged economy. Locals also are facing rising property prices and “rowdy Chinese visitors,” according to the report.
Sochetkrisna said the province “needs more local people to have a chance to work, to get more money from this growth.”
