Tourism as usual at Angkor Wat despite steeper fees
The steep increase in Angkor Wat ticket prices on February 1 did not discourage tourists from visiting the country’s chief tourist draw, as some feared, but it also did not reap any significant material gains for the government coffers, new data shows. Figures released on Saturday by the Angkor Enterprise, the state-run ticketing agency for Angkor Wat Archaeological Park, showed ticket sales to the World Heritage site near Siem Reap inched up to 701,358 during the first quarter of the year. Meanwhile, revenue rose to $20.3 million, a mere 1.7 percent year-on-year increase despite price hikes that effectively doubled the cost of single-day admission. Some tourism experts had expressed concern over the government’s decision to sharply increase the entrance price to Angkor Wat, arguing that it could prompt price-conscious foreign travellers to skip visiting the ancient temple complex and the country itself.
