Wednesday, 23 April 2008

Cambodia targets more European, Chinese flights

Opodo's travel
22 April 2008

The south-east Asian country of Cambodia is planning to boost its tourism industry this year with more flights from China and locations in the EU, according to reports.

Tourism minister Thong Khon was quoted by the Mekong Times as saying that Cambodia needs daily flights to big cities in southern China.

He also said that a lack of direct services from major source markets in Europe was a problem that needs to be addressed, reports the Xinhua news agency.

"At present we have direct charter flights from Finland and Italy, but we would like to see that grow as 60% of our tourist arrival [is] by air," the minister said.

More flights could put a strain on Cambodia's airports – Siem Reap currently handles 37 international services a day and Phnom Penh sees around 30 flights every day.

The Cambodian government recently announced that it welcomed some 400,000 visitors in the first two months of 2008, a 17% increase on the previous year.

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