Revisiting the Pandemic: Rapid Survey on the Impact of Covid-19 on MSMEs in the Tourism Sector and Households in Cambodia
The Covid-19 pandemic led to a dramatic roll-back of economic progress across Southeast Asia. While the region has managed to contain the spread of the virus better than most others, the economic impact on the region has been devastating. Southeast Asia is highly integrated into the global economy, both with regard to trade and international travel. Since international travel stopped almost entirely in March, the tourism and business travel sectors have experienced unprecedented contraction. Many small businesses closed permanently as they cannot survive the economic losses brought on by Covid-19 lockdowns and travel restrictions. With each passing month, tens of millions more workers become at risk of sliding into poverty, including many in the middle class. As the pandemic drags on, temporary job losses have become permanent, and household incomes have plummeted. To address the need for accurate data on how Covid-19 is disrupting micro and small enterprises, vulnerable workers, the informal economy, and heavily affected sectors, The Asia Foundation and partners conducted a series of national surveys and case studies in six Southeast Asian countries: Cambodia, the Lao Peoples’ Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, and Timor-Leste. Revisiting the Pandemic: Rapid Survey on the Impact of Covid-19 on MSMEs in Tourism Sector and Households in Cambodia presents findings from two surveys in Cambodia. The first was the Survey of MSMEs in the Tourism Sector, co-developed by the Foundation in partnership with Centre for Policy Studies. The second was the Survey on Households, developed and carried out by Angkor Research and Consulting, and Future Forum, with contributions and advice from the Foundation. The data present in this report consist of three-round of data collection that took place at two or three-month intervals between May 2020 and April 2021.
