Cambodia attracts over 2 mln foreign tourists in 7 months, up 26 pct

Xinhua | 4 September, 2012
By Agencies

                                       Foreign tourists riding elephants at Angkor Wat temple.

 

Cambodia's tourism ministry reported on Tuesday that some 2.04 million foreign tourists had visited the country in the first seven months of this year, a 26 percent rise from 1.62 million visitors in the same period last year.

About 1.2 million, or 59 percent of the total international visitors, had spent their time visiting the world heritage site Angkor archeological park, in Siem Reap province, said the tourism ministry's report.

During the January-July period this year, Vietnam still topped the chart among the top ten with 453,890 arrivals, up 29 percent, followed by South Korea with 256,300, up 29 percent, and China visitors with 179,250, up 32 percent.

Lao and Thai visitors to the country had seen a remarkable rise. During the period, some 127,300 Lao visitors and 105,390 Thais visited Cambodia, up 88 percent and 89 percent respectively.

The report recorded that about 48 percent of the visitors arrived in the country by air, 50 percent by land and the rest by water.

Tourism is one of the major four pillars supporting Cambodian economy. Last year, the sector attracted 2.88 million foreign tourists, generating a total revenue of $1.91 billion.