Cambodia earned $3.03 billion from tourist visits in 2023,
up 115 percent from the $1.41 billion recorded in 2022, a report by the Ministry of Tourism showed yesterday.
Ministry spokesman Top Sopheak attributed the remarkable tourism growth to the fast recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, boosting domestic and foreign tourist footfalls in the country.
“The rise in the number of foreign tourist arrivals in the country marked a strong recovery of the country’s tourism industry, although the growth has not yet reached the level achieved in the pre-pandemic days,” Sopheak told Khmer Times.
Growing infrastructure and connectivity have facilitated more tourist visits to the country, he said, adding that the ministry and the private sector are working together to improve tourism services and creation of new tourism products.
“The tourism receipts have also helped tourism-related businesses,” he said.
Cambodia attracted 5.43 million international tourists in 2023, a sharp increase of 139.5 percent from 2.27 million in 2022, a Ministry of Tourism report showed recently.
Thailand topped the chart among foreign tourist arrivals to the Kingdom with 1.82 million, followed by Vietnam (1.01 million), China (547,789), Laos (372,285) and the United States (184,780), read the report.
Tourism is one of the four pillars supporting Cambodia’s economy, in addition to garments, footwear and travel goods export, agriculture and construction and real estate.
The country has three world heritage sites, namely the Angkor Archaeological Park in the northwest Siem Reap province, Preah Vihear Temple in Preah Vihear province and Sambor Prei Kuk archaeological site in central Kampong Thom province.
Besides, the country has a pristine coastline stretching 450 km across four southwest provinces of Sihanoukville, Kampot, Kep and Koh Kong.
The ministry tracked more than 18 million domestic tourists last year, increasing from 13.9 million recorded in 2022.
The Ministry of Tourism has predicted that the number of international visitors to Cambodia will reach seven million by 2025, surpassing the pre-Covid-19 level of 6.6 million in 2019.Khmertimeskh
