VIRTUAL: Prague Heritages

Abstract

Cambodia’s tourism boom is related to visitors discovering the famed Angkor Wat and other temples of the Khmer empire, which ruled much of Southeast Asia for six centuries. The number of foreigners entering Cambodia has continued to increase, reaching 6.2 million visitors in 2018. This paper will examine the positive and negative effects of this rise of touristic practices with a focused emphasis on extractive tourism. Ironically, these extractive practices began in 1992 when the 400-acre Buddhist temple complex, Angkor Wat, received designation as a United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage site. Vijay Kolinjivadi’s original definition of extractive tourism will be explained alongside the three types of tourists—including, the psychocentric, mid-centric, and allocentric tourist. These terms will start conversation surrounding types of tourism in Cambodia and resulting physical, religious, cultural, and economic effects of extractive tourism. Physical consequences of over tourism include worn temple steps, excessive deforestation, sinking Angkor monuments, and an overconsumption of groundwater in the surrounding Siem Reap province. Religious and cultural ramifications of extractive practices will be examined regarding the ways that they limit local Cambodian people’s abilities to practice rites at their own temple sites. Finally, the damaging effects of economic leakage occurring when visitors book tours, lodging, and restaurant reservations through non-local businesses will be acknowledged. Ultimately, quotes from interviews conducted with Khmer tour guides, Bouth La, and Mony Pech will be included to frame the need for some tourism in Cambodia. The necessity for some tourism is especially seen in lieu of the devastating economic effects from the COVID-19 pandemic in the country. These author-initiated interactions with Cambodian people at Angkor Wat, will inform recommendations for eco-tourist strategies.