[PHNOM PENH POST]
INCREASED interest by Asian tourists has led to about 33 percent growth
for Angkor Wat ticket sales so far this year, according to the Apsara
Authority.
Revenues during the first six months hit US$20
million, compared with about $15 million in the period last year,
figures from the authority, which manage the temples, show.
The
growth in ticket sales comes as Asian tourists in particular see
Cambodia as a stable country to travel to, said Apsara Authority
Director General Bun Narith.
“We see a day to day increase in
foreign tourists at the temples,” he said. Vietnamese tourists were the
largest source of foreigners purchasing tickets and South Koreans were
second, he said.
Cambodians do not have to purchase tickets to
visit the temples, while foreigners have three options ranging between
$20 and $60 depending on the length of visit.
Tourism Minister Thong Khon yesterday said he had noticed an increase of foreign visitors to the temples from year to year.
“We have strong policies to attract international tourists to come here,” he said.
The
number of charter flights from Chinese cities such as Nanjing, Kunming
and Yunnan were on the increase, bringing a growing number of tourists
to Siem Reap, he said.
“In this year, we see the number of
tourists from the Asia region increasing, from countries such as
Vietnam, South Korea and China, as well as from Europe and the United
States,” he said.
Cambodia received a total of 1,385,029 foreign
tourists in the first half of the year, up from 1,221,156 tourists in
the same period of 2010, according to the statistics from the Ministry
of Tourism obtained by The Post last week.
Vietnam has been the
largest source of tourists to Cambodia so far this year, with 289,736
visitors in the first half of 2011. South Korea was the second largest
source, with 172,568 visitors arriving in the Kingdom, a 19.5 percent
increase on the first six months of 2010. China came in third with
133,775 arrivals.
The United States and Japan were the fourth and
fifth largest sources for arrivals, with 79,066 and 76,278 arrivals
from the two countries respectively in the first six months, according
to the Ministry of Tourism statistics.
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