MoT reports 2% fall of int’l tourists in May
MoT reports 2% fall of int’l tourists in May
The Ministry of Tourism (MoT) Tuesday reported that 524,390 international tourists visited Cambodia in May this year, a decrease of 2 percent compared to 533,932 in April but a rise of nearly 16 percent compared to the same month in 2023 which recorded only 442,114 foreigners.
The Tourism Statistics Department of MoT reported that the number of international tourists visiting the Kingdom over the past five months reached 2,640,999 people, accounting for about 48 percent of the total tourists travelling to Cambodia last year.
From January to May, foreign tourists travelled by land and waterways recorded 1,654,564 people while 986,435 passengers travelled by air transport through the three airports including the Siem Reap Angkor International Airport (SAI) received 281,370 tourists, the Phnom Penh International Airport (PNH) welcomed 699,007 tourists and 6,058 from the Sihanouk International Airport (KOS).
The PNH contributed up to 70.8 percent of the total air market in Cambodia in the first five months, followed by SAI which stands for 28.5 percent while the remaining travelled through the KOS.
The top 10 markets from January to May were tourists from Thailand, Vietnam China, Lao PDR, the United States, Korea, France Indonesia, the United Kingdom and Japan. The tourists from Thailand were the highest, reaching 770,371 people, followed by 528,252 Vietnamese and 326,003 Chinese.
As per the report, in May the international tourists who travelled by air recorded 161,478 passengers while 362,912 travelled by land and waterways, a sum of 524,390 tourists in the first month.
The number marked a tiny decrease of about 2 percent compared to the total international tourist in April which recorded 533,932 travellers nationwide but if compared to 442,114 tourists in the first five months of 2023, the report proved an increase of 15.6 percent instead.
Tripadvisor Inc – an American tour company – stated that four tourist destinations in Cambodia have been recognised as the top tourist attractions in Asia of which Angkor Wat ranked second on the list, followed by the Ta Prohm and Bayon temples standing at rank 19th & 20th and lastly is the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum in Phnom Penh.
Speaking to Khmer Times, Chhay Sivlin, President of Cambodia Tourism Association (CATA) said, “Generally, the rainy season is the lowest season for the tourism industry in Cambodia which hits between May to the end of September.”
Sivlin urged the government to set out some kind of promotion strategy such as reducing the Angkor Ticket Pass or Entry Visa fees aimed at encouraging tourists to visit the potential destinations during the period when there will be fewer tourism activities.
According to the Tourism Statistics Report on May 2024, the arrival of foreign tourists is likely to fall in June and September, the low season of the tourism industry in the Kingdom after the Covid-19 pandemic ended.
The international tourists generally bound back to the peak in November, December and January, the latest report showed.
The statistics proved that the country generates about 500,000 international tourists monthly, making it possible to reach 6 million tourists’ expectations by the end of this year.
