Before the crisis:
Sophany opened her own tourist office shop in Phnom Penh in June 2008. Before that she worked for three years in another travel agency. Initially the new business was doing very well.

How has life changed since then?
Since the start of the crisis, the business has become difficult and she has lost a lot of money. Other than selling airline and bus tickets, more than half of her business came from sourcing work visas for Chinese management staff running garment factories in Cambodia. But many garment factories have since closed, and many of Sophany’s customers have left the country. She has retained some customers—about 30 percent—and they still use her business to prolong their visas and buy new visas.

Sophany’s income has dropped by 50 percent since the end of 2008.

How is she getting by?
The drop in business has forced Sophany to diversify. She has added several internet terminals to her shop and picked up some extra business with some Western embassies, applying for visas for Cambodian citizens. Her business now depends on selling tourist visas and air tickets to foreign nationals who want to come to gamble in the casino in Phnom Penh. She also sells bus tickets. Both of those businesses are holding steady at the moment because her clients are loyal.

What does she hope for the future?
Sophany is worried about the future and hasn’t figured out what she will do. She may need to close her office and work from home to save rental costs. She is neither optimistic nor pessimistic—as long as she can keep on going, she will.

April 2009