Visitors to Cambodia on the rise

International visitor arrival numbers to Cambodia are on the increase with the country reporting a 28 percent increase during the first quarter of this year compared to the same period last year.

According to recent statistics Cambodia welcomed over 995,000 foreign visitors during the three month period, up from 778,467 the year before, with Vietnamese visitors representing 18 percent of the market.

Ministry of Tourism general director Mr Tith Chantha attributed the growth from the Vietnamese market to the nation’s proximity.

“In recent times, we see the Vietnamese at the top of the market because this nation is close to us and they can access Cambodia [by boat, plane or land],” Mr Tith Chantha said.

“In the future, we hope that Chinese tourists will hold the record.”

Tourism and Government Official are hoping that the number of Chinese visitor arrivals to the country would increase to one million by 2020.

A recent bilateral trade agreement between China and Cambodia may considerably boost the number of Chinese tourist travelling to Cambodia.

Government officials said that the recent decision to double the bilateral trade to US$5 billion a year may develop into more Cambodia tourism marketing in China.

In the first quarter of 2012, over 151,000 Korean tourists or 15 per cent of the market travelled to Cambodia followed by Chinese, Japanese, Russian and UK tourists.

Source - etravelblackboardasia