Chinese tourists to Cambodia up 14% in 10 months

PHNOM PENH - About 653,144 Chinese holidaymakers had visited Cambodia in the first ten months of 2016, up 14 percent over the same period last year, the latest data of Tourism Ministry showed Saturday.

The number of Chinese visitors to Cambodia accounted for 16.7 percent of total foreigners to the kingdom during the January-October period, the data said.

China ranked the second largest source of tourists to the Southeast Asian country after Vietnam, whose 768,660 people traveled to Cambodia during the period, down 2 percent year-on-year.

Speaking during a Cambodia-China business forum last week, Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen predicted that the kingdom could receive a total of 800,000 Chinese tourists in the year of 2016, an increase of 14.29 percent year-on-year.

He said, to date, direct flights between China and Cambodia reached to 94 per week, with 51 flights to Phnom Penh capital, 31 flights to Siem Reap cultural province and 12 flights to the coastal province of Preah Sihanouk.

Cambodia is famous for two cultural sites on the UNESCO's World Heritage List. One is the 12th century Angkor archaeological park and the other is the 11th century Preah Vihear Temple.

In addition, it has many interesting eco-tourism sites, including a 450-km pristine coastline stretching across four provinces in the country's southwestern part.