atedFrom the capital Phnom Penh, Cyrille Top, director of the local travel agency Seripheap, member of the Nomadays collective, shares his professional daily life and the tourism situation in Cambodia during the coronavirus crisis.
"The challenge is to find feasible projects during this period normally dedicated to reconnaissance and production missions"
"The Kingdom of Cambodia is no exception to the current global health crisis. After a succession of measures (such as the closure of several land borders, entry bans for French nationals), we are now moving towards a lockdown comparable to the one practiced in France.
Created in 2017, our local agency Voyage Seripheap is relatively young. Benefiting from the network and Nomadays' marketing expertise, we were able to achieve financial balance last year and were about to have a very good 2020 before the near-total interruption of our activity.
That said, this is not yet the time for defeatism and resignation. This period of forced inactivity corresponds to the seasonal low point both in terms of on-site clientele and bookings. We therefore hope that the end of the crisis will not be too long in coming so that it coincides with the resumption of our sales cycle. The challenge is to find feasible projects during a period normally dedicated to reconnaissance and production missions. The work is still vast and numerous: accounting, financial analysis, website translation, etc.
Our team is keeping morale up! In Cambodia, lockdown guidelines have so far been based on voluntary basis. We preferred to take the initiative by offering remote work to all office staff and organizing our meetings on Skype. Only one colleague continues to come work at the agency (of his own accord), which in a way respects the principle of barrier measures."
"Around us, in the tourism sector, it's layoffs and technical unemployment all over the place"
"Our advantage, compared to large national or regional tourism companies in Cambodia, is very certainly our small size which will allow us to weather this difficult period with greater agility. Around us, in the tourism sector, it's layoffs and technical unemployment all over the place. We are not considering layoffs for now, the goal being to keep everyone on board for as long as possible.
We are aware of our relative good fortune compared to the hardships experienced by other players in the tourism sector. Here solidarity remains the watchword and the kindness of several of our partners warms our hearts. On our end, we have honored and paid all our commitments to our suppliers (hoteliers, drivers, guides...). We now look to the future like an author facing a blank page…"
Photo credits: CelineRavier
