Cambodia welcomed 464,637 international tourists in August this year, an increase of over 80 percent compared to August last year. However, the numbers represent a drop of 10.6 percent compared to 2019, which was the year before the pandemic took over the country.

According to the ‘Tourism Statistics Report of August 2023’ from the Ministry of Tourism (MoT) sources, the international tourist arrivals to Cambodia reached 464,437, while last year the Kingdom recorded only 254,813 travellers. The data in August this year represent a decrease of 10.6 percent as the country reported 519,502 in 2019.

The statistics report provided to Khmer Times stated that in the first eight months this year, Thailand remained on the top list of Cambodia’s tourism report, totalling 1.18 million visitors, followed by Vietnam, which recorded 641,758 of travellers, while China stood in the third list with 364,884 tourists.

According to the MoT press release on Sunday, Cambodia received 3.5 million international tourists in the first eight months of 2023, an increase of 250.8 percent compared to the same duration last year but a decrease of 19.7 compared to 2019. The country is expected to receive approximately 4.5 to five million international tourists by the end of this year.

“Among all the tourists who visited the Kingdom, 1.2 million were arriving by flight, an increase of 206.1 percent over the same period last year. However, this figure is still marked as 60.9 percent less than the same duration in 2019.”

The number of international tourists entering by land and waterways is estimated at 2.228 million and most of them come by travel on land from neighbouring countries, which was an important priority market during the Covid-19 crisis, the statement added.

The Department of Tourism Statistics emphasised that this report complies with international tourist data from all international border gates across the whole country in collaboration with the General of Immigration of the Ministry of Interior of Cambodia.

As such, this statistical development is based on the principles of accuracy, independence, objectivity, reliability, relevance and timeliness which involve the procedure of collecting, processing, analysing, publishing, and disseminating data according to the statistics law.

Speaking to Khmer Times, Craig Dodge, Director of Sales and Marketing of Phare, the Cambodian Circus, said, “Thailand and Vietnam share the same land borders with the Kingdom. Therefore, they are likely significant land border crossings for commerce and visitation while tourists from China drop to the third rank after the COVID-19 pandemic due to many factors that limit travel procedures including lower demand and fewer flights from the country.

Craig Dodge continued that these two countries appear to have a healthy recovery in the tourism industry especially Thailand due to their new strategies to waive the Visa application fee from international tourists as well as extended staying duration in their country. “We see healthy bookings in November and December and our best opportunities in the near term are our ASEAN neighbours,” he added.