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Int’l air tourists to Cambodia surge 244 percent Q1
The number of foreign tourists arriving in Cambodia by air increased remarkably in 2022 after the government lifted Covid-19 restrictions, the Ministry of Tourism has said.
Cambodia’s three international airports handled 131,864 passengers between January and April this year, which is 243.9 percent compared to the same period last year, according to a report.
The Phnom Penh International Airport handled 113,406 tourists during this period – an increase of 261.5 percent, while Siem Reap International Airport and Kong Keng (Sihanouk) International Airport handled 15,171 and 3,287 foreign tourists respectively.
Sin Chan Serey Vutha, under-secretary of state and spokesman at the State Secretariat of Civil Aviation, attributed the significant increase to the country’s full reopening buoyed by high vaccination rates.
“By fully reopening, more airlines – both local and foreign – have restarted service, offering more choices of travel to air passengers,” Vutha said.
In the pre-pandemic years, the Chinese topped the list of foreign tourists in Cambodia, but now China has strict restrictions in place to fight Covid-19.
Chinese immigration authorities have said they enact tighter overseas travel policies, including restrictions on non-essential travel and passport approvals, to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Tourism is one of the four pillars supporting Cambodia’s economy.
Before the pandemic, the country attracted up to 6.6 million international tourists in 2019, generating gross revenue of $4.92 billion, according to the tourism ministry.
Cambodia has fully resumed its social and economic activities and reopened its borders to fully vaccinated travellers without quarantine since last November after most of its 16 million population had been vaccinated against COVID-19.
Thong Khon, Minister of Tourism, said recently that the Kingdom expects to receive at least 800,000 to one million international tourists in 2022 based on the success of the government’s strategy to control the Covid-19 situation.
Source: https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501089249/intl-air-tourists-to-cambodia-surge-244-percent-q1/