Could you present us the Sofitel Royal Angkor and its historic since it started business in Cambodia?

The hotel opened in October 2000 on a first phase. On a second phase, in October/November 2001, we opened the rest of the hotel. Now we are 100% completed; we have 239 rooms, five restaurants, a swimming pool, a sauna, a spa and a fitness center. We also have all complementary services related to a five star hotel.

Could you give us some key figures on the performance of the hotel like the occupancy rate, number of employees, etc.?

On a yearly basis we have an occupancy averaging the 48% for a normal year of operation. But in the five months of the high season we have an average of 70%. What concerns the personnel, we have around 350 staff, which is of course full time staff.

What kind of customers do you receive here and what is their average expenditure?

Average expenditure is hard to determine, mainly because most of our customers pay directly to the travel agencies. On the premises, here, they spend mainly for the spa, which is very popular.

This is indeed one of the major problems for the development of the tourism industry here in Cambodia. Does your hotel have plans to increase this average stay by offering special packages to the tourists?

We are in fact setting up packages, but Cambodia still an extension from countries around us, we are not yet a one stop destination. Almost all the incoming tourists are brought through travel agencies. We need to develop this new concept, which would be good for the tourism in general. We are collaborating in the whole industry sector in order to increase this stay, at least to three nights, by offering for example a full day spa resort package.

There are plenty of opportunities, but those ideas have to be pushed if we want the visitors to get into it. Cambodia is not only about the Angkor Wat temples site, it offers more than that; the countryside and the bird reserve on the Tonle Sap are beautiful for instance. You can spend a full day in this countryside visiting temples three or four hours away from here; of course you get to see the temples, but you also get in contact with the people, their villages and their way of live, which is quite important.

Getting back to the average stay of 2 to 3 nights, how do you think the offer can be improved in order to get the tourists for a longer period?

The average stay is 2 nights due to the fact that Cambodia is an extension of a holiday package from one of the neighboring countries, not a destination by itself. It's difficult to reach the market expectative; offering packages with a combination of temples and beach could be one of the solutions. But this mainly depends on the tourists demand. If we choose a luxurious resort, right on the beach, peaceful to relax and then go to Siem Reap or other temple sites; yes, they will probably come here for a week or even a longer period. This is my perception, but in the meantime there is still much to undertake in order to be able to propose this packages.

Do you have plans to invest in beach resorts in Cambodia?

Not at this stage. We are waiting to see what will happen and which trends will follow, from there we will decide which way we will go.

What about the development of the tourism here in Siem Reap, there are plenty of hotels being constructed, what kind of competition are you facing now and how is this going to affect you in the next few years?

The competition we are facing now is mainly the Grand Hotel d'Angkor, the Pansea and the Aman; of course the last two have a complete different target market and we do not consider them direct competitors. So on the 5 stars hotel scene is just the Grand Hotel d'Angkor. In the near future there will be the Victoria, which will come with a four star product, as the Imperial is also coming in Siem Reap. But competition is good; at the end of the day, what we have to make sure is that guests are coming to the country. With this in mind, we have to provide transportation and roads to facilitate the access. For instance, the road between Siem Reap and Thailand would help substantially to increase the amount of tourists coming from the country.

Although there has been no reported case of SARS in Cambodia this latter is affecting the whole tourism industry. Could you tell us more about the present situation and its consequences so far?

It is true that Cambodia has had no reported case of SARS, which is quite good, but as Cambodia is an extension of a package comprising countries where SARS is causing problems, we are losing customers too. It is affecting not only the whole city of Siem Reap but also the whole country. The level of business is going down, not only due to SARS, but also to the Iraq crisis, which has affected us; of course the tourism is the first industry to be hit in cases like that.

The Minister of Tourism is promoting quite a lot the sector. What is your point of view on its policy?

Promotion is not only good for a country. Everyone needs promotion. The more you talk about something, the more people is aware about it and so you get more tourists. It is definitely good. The planning is good and the way of applying it too.

Could you tell us more about your professional career?

I studied Hotel management school in France. After that, I moved to California for Meridein, then back to Paris to work in a restaurant. Once again I went to the United States to work in New York City for Novotel. After I did a short stop at Disneyland Paris before I started a new career into luxury properties at the Prince de Galles for Starwood, still in Paris. It was at this time that I joined the Sofitel Group. In the April 2000 I joined the Sofitel Metropole in Hanoi. Finally, since November last year I am here in Siem Reap.

What would be your final message to anyone interested in investing in Cambodia?

There are plenty of opportunities, perhaps not in the hotels itself, but for sure in the supplying of those hotels; energy, water, agriculture, catering, almost anything. You have to consider that most of the products consumed here are imported from other countries. I strongly believe that by moving some business in Cambodia, we could be able to get supplies at more competitive prices. If you produce locally you should be able to offer products less expensive than coming form overseas. This will help not only tourism, but also others sectors of the economy. This is according to me one of the most important factors for the economic growth of Cambodia.