Mr. Pitou also said 520 foreign tourists visited Rattanakiri this month, and it was up by seven percent compared with January last year.
“This increase in tourist numbers was due to better road links with neighboring provinces such as Mondulkiri, Stung Treng, Kratie, Siem Reap and Preah Vihear,” he added.
“We also provided better facilities for tourists visiting natural resorts in the province, like better toilets, more rubbish bins and proper car parking lots.”
Mr. Pitou said his department also made sure that food sold to tourists at the natural resorts were clean and affordable.
Yeak Loam lake is a popular tourist destination in Rattanakiri. Located about five kilometers from the provincial capital, Banlung, the lake occupies a 4,000-year-old volcanic crater.
The ministry also received a report from Mondulkiri province, with the provincial tourism department recording 14,591 local tourists in the month of January, compared with 13,215 in the same month last year. The report stated that a record number of tourists visited the province during the Chinese New Year holidays.
The coastal provinces of Preah Sihanouk, Kampot, Kep and Koh Kong also saw a huge influx of tourists during the three-day Lunar New Year festivities.
Taing Sochet Krisna, director of the Preah Sihanouk provincial tourism department, told Khmer Times that his province saw an influx of almost 83,000 tourists from Friday to Sunday – most of them being Cambodians.
“More tourists visited the coastal areas of Preah Sihanouk province due to the cleaner beaches and better public facilities,” said Mr. Krisna.
Also, he said, the roads to the province are now better – making it easier for Cambodians to travel from other provinces.