PHUKET, 30 January 2020: How did a Cambodian coastal village transform into a megacity and why are developers asking what will come next?
C9 Hotelworks dives through the data to find out in its latest report. As the country’s online gaming ban becomes a key market disruptor, the C9 Hotelworks’ market update, authored by managing director Bill Barnett, focuses on the current and anticipated market dynamics that are at play in Sihanoukville.
Once a peaceful coastal village set in southwest Cambodia, it attracted mostly Western tourists and was once a weekend getaway destination for locals.
However, starting in 2017, a boom in Chinese investment and travel driven by the Belt and Road Initiative transformed the seaside town dramatically with critics saying it has degenerated into the chaos of a perennial construction site. The emerging-market has drawn attention from various segments, especially the gambling sector and brought hundreds of thousands of mainland Chinese workers and investors to the city.
Before 2016, only limited domestic and charter flights served Sihanoukville airport. As of YTD October 2019, the city’s main getaway Sihanoukville International Airport hosted 602,755 passenger arrivals, which is a 266% y-o-y growth compared to the same period in 2018. Land values, rents and condominium sales prices have skyrocketed during a three-year period due to the surging demand and massive development of the port town and surrounding beach resorts and islands.
Download the full report at: https://www.c9hotelworks.com/news/new-c9-report-cambodias-coastal-gaming-boomtown.php
