Tourists at Angkor Wat temples (Photo:AFP/VNA) Phnom Penh (VNA) – Cambodia welcomed an estimated 4.8 million tourists in 2015, up 8 percent from the previous year, the Khmer Daily quoted Cambodian Tourism Minister Thong Khon as saying.
The January-October figure was 3.7 million, marking an annual increase of 4.6 percent, mostly those from Vietnam (784,681), China (573,278) and the Republic of Korea (323,881).
The largest source of arrivals was from the Asia-Pacific with 2.9 million, accounting for 78.2 percent. It was followed by ASEAN with 1.6 million (42.2 percent) and the European Union with 552,000 (14.7 percent).
The top attractions include Siem Riep, Phnom Penh and beach areas.
More than 985,000 Cambodians travelled overseas in the first ten months of this year, up 24.9 percent.
A Korean tourism expert forecast that Cambodia is likely to earn over 5 billion USD from tourism thanks to its beautiful landscapes and the world cultural heritages - Angkor Wat and Preah Vihear temples and a 450km coastline.
According to the Cambodian Ministry of Tourism, tourism sector raked in more than 3 billion USD annually, or over 10 percent of the country’s gross domestic product and generated jobs to roughly 13 percent of the total workforce.-VNA
