Din Somethearith: Hotel business to recover soon

• 9 June 2020
• Local News
• 1711 Views

The hotel business will start to rebound soon as a large number of flight bookings are opening as normal and people will start to fly again after a long period of self-quarantine during the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to Din Somethearith, a well-known hotel businessman in an interview with Freshnewson 08 June 2020, said that the hotel sector hopes to rebound in July as 50% of flights will resume operations and people will likely want to fly again after self-quarantine during COVID-19.

“I had a close study of Cambodia Airports. I know AirAsia which operates in Thailand, Cambodia and Malaysia will resume their flights. Jet Airways will resume their flights in July and Bangkok Airways will be in August. Basically, by the end of July, about 50% of flights will resume and that is our hope,” he said.

He added that if each country helps facilitate the quarantine process, the resumption of flights will return to normal.

“We missed flying, we missed travelling. When I visited Mondulkiri in the previous month, the place was so quiet, but when I visited during King Sihamoni’s birthday (in May), I couldn’t find a place to sleep. People were waiting for hours to get their food, which means people want freedom,”

However, the hotel sector will be more effected if the COVID-19 crisis still continues.

“We don’t know how long we can deal with it. As an entrepreneur, we are good at solving problems. We will try to figure out the solution as much as we can. However, if the situation still continues, I am afraid​ it will exceed our limits,” he said.

He also suggested that the banks and the government should have a special package or loan for tourism. As a business owner, he said he wants more encouragement to continue to open these businesses during this difficult time so that we can keep the sector alive. Also that the government should have special intervention other than taxation, licenses and some coordination.