Cambodia attracted 6 million international tourists during the first element months of 2024, a year-on-year increase of 22 percent, a report released by the Ministry of Tourism showed on Monday.
According to the report, Thailand emerged as the top source market for foreign tourist arrivals in Cambodia from January to November with 1.91 million visitors, a year-on-year decrease of 15.4 percent.
Some 1.2 million Vietnamese and 769,775 Chinese tourists travelled during the period, up 30.8 percent and 54.5 percent respectively.
As many as 2.15 million foreign visitors, or about 35.9 percent of the total foreign tourist arrivals, travelled to Cambodia by air, a year-on-year increase of 28.6 percent.
The remaining tourists arrived via land border gates and waterways, the report pointed out.
Minister of Tourism Huot Hak expressed optimism regarding these figures, citing that Cambodia will continue to attract a growing number of international tourists.
“By the end of 2024, Cambodia expects to receive approximately 6.7 million international tourists, which is more than before Covid-19,” Hak said.
The Ministry of Tourism remains committed to further developing the tourism sector, focusing on sustainable practices, community engagement, and product diversification to ensure long-term growth and prosperity, he said.
The report showed there were some 20 million tour trips by local tourists during the period, up nearly 20 percent compared to the same period last year.
The ministry previously projected a target of seven million foreign tourist arrivals by 2025, exceeding the 6.6 million recorded in 2019.
Cambodia is well-known for its world cultural heritage sites, such as the Angkor Archaeological Park in Siem Reap province, the Preah Vihear Temple and Koh Ker Temple in Preah Vihear province, and the Sambor Prei Kuk Archaeological Site in Kampong Thom province.
Besides, the Kingdom has a 450-kilometre-long pristine coastline stretching across four southwestern provinces of Preah Sihanouk, Kampot, Kep and Koh Kong.
Tourism contributes about 13 percent of Cambodia’s gross domestic product (GDP). In 2019, the pre-pandemic period, Cambodia welcomed its highest number of international tourists at 6.61 million.
Last year, the Kingdom received 5.45 million foreign visitors, earning a gross revenue of $3.08 billion, according to the Ministry of Tourism.
At the same time, the ministry’s report showed that Cambodia’s outbound tourism also went up by 1.8 percent to 1.67 million during the mentioned period.
