Municipal officials say they plan to set up Sunday markets along Phnom Penh’s riverfront with hopes of drawing more tourist dollars to the capital, a city official said Tuesday.
Chief of Municipal Cabinet Mann Chhoeun said under the proposal, Sisowath Quay would be closed to vehicular traffic during the day between Hun Sen Park and Street 108, and turned into a pedestrian thoroughfare.
City officials said they hope to attract more food and handicraft vendors, as well as entertainers and pavement artists, to the already-popular riverside promenade, he said.
The plan also calls for sprucing up the commercial art gallery district along Street 178 opposite the National Museum.
Phnom Penh Governor Chea Sophara has proposed erecting an ornate entrance gate at the corner of Street 178 and Norodom Boulevard “in the style of Banteay Srey,” the 10th-century Angkorean temple, Mann Chhoeun said.
The city also would license vendors to set up stalls along the tourist strip each Sunday.
“Package tourists who visit the museums can afterwards stop and buy some souvenirs or paintings,” Mann Chhoeun said.
Details of the project, including financing, have yet to be worked out, but Chea Sophara has said he hopes it will be up and running in time for Phnom Penh’s annual water festival in November, Mann Chhoeun said.
If the project is successful, the municipality will explore extending it to other parts of Phnom Penh, he said.
