Ticket sales for Angkor Wat to go online

Tourists listen to a guide in front of a temple in the Angkor Archaeological Park in Siem Reap. Hong Menea

A new online ticketing system for the Kingdom’s biggest tourist draw, Angkor Wat, will be introduced to provide faster and convenient service to tourists, while increasing the transparency and clarity of ticket sales revenues.

Finance Minister Aun Pornmoniroth announced plans for the new e-ticketing platform on Monday during the unveiling of the new state-run Angkor Institution that will manage ticket sales for the Angkor Archaeological Park in Siem Reap.

“I think the existing IT system should be reworked and renovated,” he told reporters. “Currently, there is no proper server, registry account and the ticket data system is not homogeneous.”

The proposed e-ticketing system will allow overseas visitors to upload their photos – a requirement for each ticket – and pick up their personalised tickets before reaching the Angkor Wat site, Pornmoniroth said.

“Payment can be done by credit card, and they just send their picture and we prepare the ticket for them,” he said. “No need to wait in long lines.”

The current ticketing system which dates back to 1999 is very slow, Pornmoniroth said, and the new system will be linked to a website that will be used to promote the Angkorian temples.

“If our service is good, then these visitors can become our ambassadors and tell their relatives and friends to come to Cambodia,” he added.

Chao Sunkeriya, spokeswoman for the Apsara Authority, which runs Angkor Wat, said yesterday that the tourism and economy ministries were in charge of the proposed system and the introduction of online ticketing would bring Angkor Wat to internationally set expectations.

“E-ticket systems are used internationally. If other countries can do it, we can also do it, but we must ensure that it is a good system,” she said.

Ho Vandy, an adviser to the Cambodia Chamber of Commerce, said an online system can be an efficient addition to the temple site’s offerings, but it was critical to ensure that it was glitch-free.

“If the system is not good and errors occur then people will get angry and create a bad reputation among visitors,” he said. “There should be a refund policy and solutions if the system fails.”

By Sor Chandara, the Phnom Penh Post, March 4, 2016