Cambodia's Angkor Wat receives over 1 mln int'l tourists in 8 months

[XINHUA]

PHNOM PENH, Sept. 16 -- Cambodia's Angkor Wat temples, one of the World Heritage sites, had received 1.05 million foreign visitors in the first eight months of this year, 24 percent rise from 843,000 tourists in the same period last year, showed statistics of the Siem Reap provincial tourism department on Friday.

From January to August this year, the top three countries visiting the temples are Vietnam, South Korea and China, Chhoeuy Chhorn, administration chief of Siem Reap provincial tourism department, told Xinhua on Friday.

"More and more foreigners have visited the temples thanks to the increases of connecting flights and chartered flights between Asian countries and Siem Reap," he said.

The Angkor archeological park is the country's largest cultural tourism destination; it is located in northwest of Cambodia, some 315 kilometers away from Phnom Penh.
The entrance fees to visit the Angkor archeological site is 20 U. S. dollars a day for a foreign visitor, 40 U.S. dollars for a three -day visit and 60 U.S. dollars for a weeklong visit.

The tourism industry is one of the main four pillars supporting the Cambodian economy. In 2010, the sector received 2.5 million foreign tourists generating the total revenue of 1.75 billion U.S. dollars.