PHNOM PENH (Xinhua): Cambodia's famed Angkor Archaeological Park welcomed a total of 669,619 international visitors in the first eight months of 2025, an increase of 2.7 per cent compared to the same period last year, said a news release on Monday.
The ancient site made US$31 million in revenue from ticket sales during the January-August period this year, a year-on-year rise of 2.4 per cent, said the news release from the state-owned Angkor Enterprise.
In August this year, the park received 50,848 foreign tourists, earning US$2.42 million, down 24 per cent and 23 per cent, respectively, compared to the same month last year, the report said.
Last week, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet announced that Angkor Wat has been ranked as Asia's most attractive tourist destination by TripAdvisor.
The prime minister announced this in a text posted on his official social media platforms, with a TripAdvisor list of Asia's top 20 tourist destinations.
Angkor Wat is one of the major temples in the UNESCO-listed Angkor Archaeological Park in northwest Siem Reap province. The 401-square-kilometer park is home to 91 ancient temples, which were built from the ninth to the 13th centuries.
China was the fourth largest source of international tourist arrivals to the ancient park after the United States, Britain, and France.
Thong Mengdavid, a lecturer at the Institute for International Studies and Public Policy of the Royal University of Phnom Penh, hopes that the Cambodia-China Tourism Year 2025 will help drive the growth of Chinese tourists to Angkor this year.
"With 2025 being named the Cambodia-China Tourism Year, we can anticipate a notable surge in Chinese tourist arrivals to the Angkor Archaeological Park," he told Xinhua.
"This increase will likely be driven by enhanced bilateral cooperation, promotional campaigns, and greater accessibility through direct flights and group tour packages," he added. - Xinhua
