Showing signs of revival in tourism, the number of national and international visitors travelled across the country in the first weekend of this month rose to 246,195.

The figures showed an 11.43 percent increase in the number of visitors in the first week of August, compared to more than 220,000 tourists received in the last weekend of July, according to the Ministry of Tourism.

nterestingly, 224,993 were national visitors and 21,202 were internal foreign tourists during the first weekend of this month.

The number of visitors rose because Cambodia successfully hosted the 55th Asean Foreign Ministers’ Meeting and other related events in the country last week. Many of the ministers and delegation used the occasion to visit some of the popular tourist destinations in the country.

Siem Reap again emerged as the top spot for visitors due to the interest among the tourists to visit the world-famous Angkor Wat.

The other places of interest for tourists during the last week were the provinces of Preah Sihanouk, Kampot, Kep, Battambang, and the capital Phnom Penh.

While Siem Reap received 39,979 tourists, Preah Sihanouk attracted 33,837 visitors, followed by Kampot (33,461), Kep (20,057), and Battambang (19,688) from August 6 to August 7.

Phnom Penh remained one of the top destinations in the country with the capital attracting 18,734 tourists during the weekend.

While Kampong Speu received 12,199 travellers during the period, Pursat and Kandal attracted 11,999 and 11,085 tourists, respectively.

The Kingdom expects to attract one million international tourists this year, tourism minister Thong Khon said last month.

The country received 510,000 foreign visitors in the first half of this year, a whooping increase of 394 percent compared to the same period last year.

Vietnam and Thailand were the largest sources of tourists to the country.

“We hope to attract around one million foreign tourists in 2022 and up to two million in 2023,” Khon said.

Tourism, one of the four pillars supporting the Kingdom’s economy, is forecast to reach its pre-Covid level in 2026 or 2027.

In the pre-pandemic era, Cambodia received 6.6 million international tourists in 2019, generating $4.92 billion in revenue.

Cambodia was also one of the first countries in Asean that had reopened its borders and eased travel restrictions for international travellers.

The Ministry of Tourism and the provincial and municipal tourism departments continued to enforce safety standard operating procedures to prevent the possible transmission of Covid-19, a statement said.

Source: https://www.khmertimeskh.com/