Cambodia welcomed 286,959 tourists from July 3 to July 9, 2023, according to a report from the Department of Tourism.
A total of 36,072 foreign tourists visited various destinations in the country during the period, up 7.77 percent from the previous week.
However, the number of domestic travellers dropped by 8.11 percent to 250,887, the report indicated.
Overall, there was a 6.38 percent decrease in the number of tourists for the week.
“The decline in the number of local visitors may be due to the fact that many government officials and members of the Cambodian People’s Party are busy campaigning for the upcoming election,” the statement pointed out.
While Preah Sihanouk province attracted 61,380 people, Battambang province welcomed 34,080 travellers during the period.
The capital Phnom Penh received 32,727 tourists, while 28,137 people visited Kampot province last week.
The Siem Reap province attracted 20,268 people, while Kandal province received 20,541 tourists.
Last week, some of the major events that attracted the attention of tourists included the 15th anniversary of the registration of Temple of Preah Vihear, and sixth anniversary of Sambor Prei Kun Temple as World Heritage Sites.
Preah Vihear Temple, part of UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee, was listed on the World Heritage Site list on July 7, 2008.
More than 2,000 people, including Cambodian government officials, foreign ambassadors, officials from the International Coordination Committee and tourists, joined the celebration at Preah Vihear temple last week.
Meanwhile, Tourism Minister Thong Khon said last week that Cambodia received an estimated 2.57 million international visitors in the first half of this year, a remarkable increase of 409 percent from 506,762 travellers for the same period last year.
“About 910,000 foreign tourists visited Cambodia by air, an increase of 279 percent; 1.63 million by land, up 526 percent; and 30,000 by waterways, up 586 percent,” the minister said.
The country also welcomed around 10,635 international flights in the first six months of 2023.
“Based on our latest forecast, Cambodia will be able to receive up to five million international tourists in 2023, an expected increase of 120 percent from 2.27 million in 2022,” Thong Khon pointed out.
Thailand was the top source of international travellers to Cambodia, followed by Vietnam, China, Laos, and the United States.
The number of foreign travellers to the country is estimated to reach 7 million in 2025, surpassing the pre-Covid-19 pandemic level of 6.6 million in 2019.
Meanwhile, last month the Kingdom announced that its international tourism earnings reached $1.41 billion in 2022.
It also earned $650 million from domestic travellers, according to the latest report from the Ministry of Tourism.
The tourism sector also contributed about 3.6 percent to the gross domestic product (GDP) of the country.
The country received around 2.28 million international tourists in 2022, an increase of 1058.6 percent from the 2021 figures.
“The top 10 countries of origin for tourists visiting Cambodia in the first five months of 2023 were Thailand, Vietnam, China, Lao PDR, the United States, South Korea, Indonesia, France, Russia, and the United Kingdom,” Top Sopheak, Secretary of State at the Ministry of Tourism told Khmer Times.
Source: www.khmertimeskh.com
