By Rann Reuy
Monday, 30 April 2012
Phnom Penh Post
International tourist arrivals to Cambodia increased nearly 28 per cent
during the first quarter of the year compared with the corresponding
period of 2011, Ministry of Tourism data
shows.
The country drew more than 995,000 tourists from abroad during the
three-month period, up from 778,467 a year earlier, according to figures
obtained by the Post.
Leading the industry in numbers
were almost 179,000 Vietnamese tourists, or 18 per cent of the market.
Officials
attributed continued Vietnamese dominance in Cambodia’s tourism market
to proximity, while expressing a hope Chinese visitors would acccount
for a greater share.
“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],” ministry general director
Tith Chantha said yesterday.
“In the future, we hope that Chinese
tourists will hold the record.”
Government officials said
last week Cambodia hoped to attract a million Chinese tourists by 2020.
About
250,000 visited last year.
Tourism officials told the Post this
month a recent bilateral trade agreement between China and Cambodia
could have a significant impact on the volume of Chinese tourists
entering the country.
Doubling the bilateral trade to $5 billion a
year – an agreement made during a recent visit by Chinese President Hu
Jintao – could lead to more Cambodia tourism marketing in China, the Post
reported.
More than 151,000 Korean tourists, or 15 per cent of
the market, visited Cambodia from January to March. Chinese, Japanese,
Russian and UK tourists followed in market share.
About 50 per
cent of tourists flew into the country, but arrivals by land and sea
grew by 38 per cent. Only four per cent of tourists arrived on boats,
data shows.
Data for increases in tourism revenue is not
available, but Cambodian
Association of Travel Agents president Ang Kim Eang said growth
was comparable to the jump in visitors.
A leakage in tourism
revenue to other countries was worrying, Ang Kim Eang said.
Many
tourism products such as souvenirs were imported from other countries
and hotel investment was inadequate, he said.
“Khmer hotel
investors don’t buy international brand names. This doesn’t help
advertise our hotels, and guests don’t come to stay.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Rann Reuy at reuy.rann@phnompenhpost.com
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