Minister of Tourism Thong Khon reported that the number of domestic and international visitors to Siem Reap in the first seven months of 2022 was a bit behind track, at 54.54% of the expected full-year total.
The finding comes as his ministry explores special travel offerings for the northwestern province and pushes to level up the hospitality scene as well as train and upskill workers.
There were 1,242,854 visitors to the province in the January-July period, he noted, adding that the 2,278,854 travellers anticipated this year would mark a 326.75% rise over 534,005 in 2021.
The tallies of domestic travellers (including foreign residents) and international visitors to Siem Reap are expected to reach 2,039,000 and 239,854 this year, respectively, up by 291.26% and 1,763.23 over 2021, he added.
In a bid to encourage repeat travel to the culturally rich province, Khon said, the tourism ministry has discussed special travel packages and similar offers with relevant ministries, institutions and the private sector.
The minister also called for greater attention to human resources in the tourism sector, and has assigned a working group at the ministry to inspect and assess quality, hospitality and service, as well as provide additional capacity building training for workers in Siem Reap.
According to the tourism ministry, Siem Reap could attract 10.9 million domestic tourists by 2023 and 7.5 million international tourists by 2025. — The Phnom Penh Post/ANN
