Cambodia receives 1.34 mln foreign visitors in Q1, up 2.6 pct

Cambodia welcomed 1.34 million foreign tourists in the first three months of 2016, up 2.6 percent compared to the same period last year, according to the latest tourism data released on Monday.

Top nationalities of visitors to the kingdom were Vietnamese, Chinese, and South Korean, the data said.

During the January-March period this year, some 217,860 Vietnamese came to Cambodia, down 3 percent, 217,200 Chinese visited the country, up 16 percent, and 131,550 South Koreans travelled to the kingdom, down 18 percent.

The data showed that 58.5 percent of the visitors travelled to Cambodia by air, 36.7 percent by land and 4.8 percent by waterway.

In a bid to attract more tourists, earlier this month, the ministry of tourism has planned to provide a three-year multi-entry visa valid for tourists from China, South Korea and Japan, and will submit a request to the government for approval.

Tourism industry is one of the major four pillars supporting the economy. In 2015, the sector received a total of 4.8 million foreign tourists, generating total revenue of more than 3 billion U.S. dollars.

The Southeast Asian country is famous for its Angkor archaeological park, a world heritage site, in northwestern Siem Reap province. Besides, it has a 450-km pristine coastline, which is one of the World's Most Beautiful Bays. Endit