Chinese conglomerate, Prince Holdings Group, has launched the $85 million Prince Manor Resort Centre in Kandal province yesterday. The resort comprises the single biggest investment project in the country’s tourism sector in recent years.
Located in Kandal province’s Keansvay district and about 20 kilometres from the city centre, Prince Manor Resort Centre is an investment by its subsidiary, Prince Culture and Tourism Development Plc, on 13 hectare of land along the lower Mekong River.
Cliff Koh, managing director of Prince Holdings Group Plc said that this huge investment is an integral part of the Kingdom’s tourism sector development strategy.
“Our development strategy is in line with the government. As a private sector entity working in an environment where investors are concerned about the lack of investment capital and long term-returns from the tourism sector, our company will always regard tourism development in Cambodia as a priority and towards this end, will continue to support the development of the local tourism industry,” he said.
According to Koh, Prince Manor employs 190 Cambodians, which is more than 80 per cent of the company’s total work force. He said Prince holdings Group regards the welfare of the local community as the company’s single most important mission.
“We are committed to improving the livelihood of the people, especially in the modern agricultural sector and we are working towards a sustainable development model which combines technology, agriculture and education,” he said, adding that the company will establish a modern agricultural sector for education, tourism and for student’s feasibility study.
According to the company, Prince Manor is an international eco-resort that offers visitors a relaxing vacation with beautiful scenery and other features, including colourful floral gardens, amusement parks, lodges and wooden houses. It also has entertainment projects such as adventure, excitement, warmth and romance.
The Prince Manor Recreation Center also has an 88-meter-high spinning wheel that resembles the eyes of Phnom Penh, along with the Prince Water Entertainment Park, which covers approximately 1 hectare, a standard racing field and an ecological park.
Prince Holdings Group currently has 30 sister companies operating in Cambodia in various sectors such as property, banking, finance, airline, logistics, technology, tourism, food and beverages
Prime Minister Hun Sen, who officiated at the launch of the resort said “Prince Group has already invested billions of dollars here in Cambodia and the centre is an attraction for the eastern part of Phnom Penh, which will attract both local and international tourists.
“One can ask why in the time of COVID-19, when tourism has declined, we open this tourist center. This is a point that we would stress that COVID-19 cannot kill us,” he said.
He said that in the context of COVID-19, which is a global crisis, has severely impacted the tourism sector. He said without international tourists, Cambodia needs to be well prepared in its domestic tourism sector by creating new products.
“Having only Angkor Wat is not enough. We need to create more tourism products and improve new tourist areas because we cannot predict when COVID-19 will end,” he said.
Cambodia welcomed more than 6 million international tourists last year and so far this year, with the outbreak of COVID-19, the country received just over one million tourists.
The Prime minister also encouraged the Prince Company to set up a tourist port, because there may be tourism through that port, and the Ministry of Public Works must facilitate this if there is a request to establish a tourist port here.
This article was first published in Khmer Times. All contents and images are copyright to their respective owners and sources.
