[PEOPLE'S DAILY ONLINE]
Visitors to Cambodia's Preah Vihear
temple, a World Heritage Site, declined 40 percent in the first half
this year, compared with the same period last year, due to border
conflict with Thailand, the chief of Preah Vihear provincial tourism
department said Thursday.
The department recorded a total of
27,980 tourists to the temple from January to June this year, down from
46,400 visitors in the same period last year.
"Most visitors
to the temple are Cambodians; they are still scared to see the temple
because of repeated deadly clashes," said Kong Vibol.
However, he said the number of foreign tourists was on the rise, as
1,095 foreign tourists visited the temple in the first six months, up
128 percent from a year earlier.
"It's a sharp rise in
foreign tourists to the temple in May and June after the armed clashes
between Cambodia and Thailand died down," he said.
"Cambodia
hopes that the Preah Vihear temple will soon become the country's second
largest tourism destination after Angkor Wat temples if there is no
more military clash with Thailand."
Cambodia and Thailand
have had sporadic border conflict over territorial dispute near the
Preah Vihear temple since the UNESCO listed the 11th century temple as a
World Heritage Site on July 7, 2008.
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