Khmer New Year sees 4.6 million tourists

Splashing fun time: People using water guns to spray water at passengers of a pick-up truck during Khmer New Year celebrations in Siem Reap province. — AFP

THE kingdom counted nearly 4.6 million domestic tourists over this year’s three-day public holiday for the Khmer New Year, including 4.5 million Cambodians and nearly 30,000 foreign residents – a number which officials have said is similar to that seen pre-pandemic.

Tourism Minister Thong Khon said that a total of 4,590,326 sightseers were recorded across the April 14-16 period in the Kingdom, of which 4,561,477 were nationals and 28,849 (0.63%) were foreign residents. The ministry documented 862,897 tourists on the first day, 1,579,251 on the second and 2,148,178 on the third.