Tuesday, 6 January 2009

Cambodia travel figures lift, but not as much as expected

Travel Blackboard
Tuesday, 6 January 2009

Second half arrival figures are in for Cambodia, and while international traveller numbers have grown, they haven’t performed as well as previously expected.

For the full year, 2.15 million travellers entered Cambodia, signalling an annual growth rate of 6% for 2008 when compared to 2007 figures, but this fell far short of the 15-20% growth rates targeted earlier in the year.

Breaking the numbers down, first half 2008 saw stronger growth figures year-on-year, with a growth rate of 13%, while the second half grew by 8%.

“We expected foreign tourist arrivals to increase between 15 to 20 percent, but it increased only about eight percent compared to 2007,” said Thong Khon, Cambodia Tourism Minister, to AFP.

“It only slightly increased because of the financial crisis,” he continues. “People stop spending money.”

Additionally, some 31% of travellers into Cambodia transfer through Thailand, and with the recent barricades at Bangkok, much traffic has been throttled back.

Looking to full year figures for 2009, the tourism minister is still eyeing growth for Cambodia.“I [can] guarantee that the number of the tourist arrivals will increase next year, though not by too much.”

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