Int'l tourists to Cambodia's famed Angkor up sharply in Q1

PHNOM PENH, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia's famed Angkor Archeological Park received 236,341 foreign tourists in the first quarter of 2023, up almost 11 times from 19,840 in the same period last year, said a press statement on Monday.

The ancient park earned 11.1 million U.S. dollars in revenue from ticket sales during the January-March period this year, up over 12 folds from only 815,575 dollars in the same period last year, said the state-owned Angkor Enterprise's statement.

In this March alone, the park welcomed 79,390 foreigners, making 3.74 million dollars in revenue from ticket sales, the statement said.

Ministry of Tourism's Secretary of State and Spokesman Top Sopheak attributed the significant growth to China's optimization 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 coming years as many airlines have resumed their flights to the kingdom," he told Xinhua.

"The return of Chinese tourists and investors is a good sign for Cambodia's tourism and economy in the post-COVID-19 pandemic era," he added.

Located in northwest Siem Reap province, the 401-square-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 Southeast Asian nation.