Cambodia welcomes more tourists

PHNOM PENH, 4 December 2014: Cambodia’s tourist arrivals registered an increase of 9.7% in September, according to the country’s statistics and tourist Information Department.
The country attracted 311,388 visits compared to 283,787 during the same month last year.
Released officially by the Ministry of Tourism, Tuesday, data showed Vietnam led the field with 66,579 visits, but it was a decrease of 11.5% from 59,717 during the same month in 2013.
Other markets in top five were: China (42,448; +23.6%); Laos (41,924; +7.1%); Thailand (28,263; +71.4%); and South Korea (21,600; +0.7%).
In September, 47.7% (148,464) of all international visitors arrived by air. Siem Reap Airport received the major share, at 26.3% (81,850). Meanwhile, Phnom Penh Airport gained a market share of 21.4% (66,614).

Overland travel accounts for 50.0% (155,563) through checkpoints with Thailand, Laos and Vietnam, while sea travel is a small at 2.4% (7,361).
In addition, the data showed tourist arrivals to Phnom Penh and other destinations accounted for 44.6% attracting 158,786 visits, while Siem Reap province, home of Angkor Wat, posted a market share of 42.8% with 152,602 visits. Coastal areas had a market share of 11.4% with 40,746 visits, while ecotourism areas accounted for 1.2% receiving 4,137 visits.
By region, Asia Pacific had a 85.8% market share however it posted an increase of 11.6% supplying 267,173 visits.
The Americas posted an increase of 8.8% with 13,774 visits following by Oceania (+3.7%; 13,406), Africa (+1.9%; 377), Europe (-4.1%; 29,236), and the Middle East (-4.3%; 828).
For January to September, the country welcomed 3,200,058 international travellers improving 4.7% from 3,057,211 visits during the same period in 2013.
Tourism Minister Thong Khon said despite the increase in tourist numbers, the growth rate during the same period was low compared to last year’s 19%.
“There were some factors that had slowed down tourism growth such as political instability in Thailand and travellers’ concern over the Ebola outbreak,” he said.
Cambodia should welcome 4.6 million foreign arrivals by the end of this year, a 10% increase from 2013. By 2020, tourism could grow to 8 million, which will generate over USD5 billion in revenue.
In 2013, more than 4.2 million tourists visited Cambodia, a 17.5% increase from 2012, which generated USD2.5 billion in tourism revenue or 16% of its gross domestic product.

Top 10 source markets to Cambodia September 2014

Top 10 source markets to Cambodia January to September 2014