Cambodia Sees 1.4 Million Tourists in First Eight Months

Written by DAP NEWS -- Tuesday, 29 September 2009

(Post by CAAI News Media)

The Tourism Ministry has annou- nced that the kingdom attracted 1.4 million foreign visitors in the eight months of this year.

Visitors totalled 1.4 million, down 1.37 percent compared to the same period of 2008, Tourism Minister Thong Khon said at the opening ceremony of the new headquarters in Phnom Penh

Siem Reap Angkor decreased by 9.46 percent, Preah Sihanouk province decreased 10. 19 percent, but Phnom Penh increased 12.89 percent. However, in the last couple of months, June and August 2009, the number of tourist arrivals has increased between 7 and 10 percent each month.

“The tourism situation in Cambodia has gradually emerged from the financial downturn toward a resilient state and it is expected that at the end of 2009, Cambodia will be able to receive roughly 2.2 to 2.3 million international tourists with an expected growth of 2 to 3 percent,” he said. In 2010, the implementation of a wide range of policies designed to improve tourism in Cambodia, such as the visa-free policy between Cambodia and Thailand and particular key markets, single visa implementation, greater facilitation of tourist travel and transport, increased number of flights by Cambodia Angkor Air, plus a direct flight operation of the Philippines Airline and the increase of cultural, religious, sport, and tourism events, Cambodia will be able to receive more international visitors than 2009, he noted.

Tourists have tightened their belts after being affected by the global financial crisis, he said.

At the same time, Prime Minister Hun Sen noted that “we have to expand more tourism areas and the local people are key factors to help expand the tourism field … [and] introduce new resorts for foreigners, he said.

Vietnamese tourists increased sharply, while tourists from Japan, China and South Korea dropped, he said.

Still, the lower daily expenditures of regional tourists could not make up the lost higher spending visitors from the EU, Japan, South Korea and North American countries, the minister said.