PHNOM PENH (Xinhua): Cambodia's famed Angkor Archaeological Park received 344,757 foreign tourists in the first five months of 2023, up 653 percent from 45,779 in the same period last year, said a press statement on Monday (June 5).
The ancient park made US$16 million in revenue from ticket sales during the January-May period this year, up 765 per cent from $1.85 million in the same period last year, said the state-owned Angkor Enterprise's statement.
In this May alone, the park greeted 45,759 foreigners, making 2 million dollars in revenue from ticket sales, the statement said.
Ministry of Tourism's Secretary of State and Spokesman Top Sopheak attributed the sharp growth to China's optimisation of its anti-Covid-19 strategy and resumption of its outbound group tours earlier this year.
"We believe that more foreign tourists will come to Cambodia, especially to the Angkor, in the coming years, as many airlines have resumed their flights to the kingdom," he told Xinhua.
Sopheak said the comeback of Chinese tourists and investors was a good sign for Cambodia's tourism and economy in the post-pandemic era.
Located in Siem Reap province, the 401-sq-km Angkor Archeological Park, inscribed on the World Heritage List of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) in 1992, is the most popular tourist destination in the South-East Asian nation.
