Foreign tourists enjoy the ancient temples of Siem Reap province. Yousos Apdoulrashim
Cambodia welcomed 6.7 million foreign tourists in 2024, a nearly 23% increase over 2023. Guests from three countries alone made up nearly 65% of the total arrivals, according to the Ministry of Tourism.
Ministry data showed that Cambodia received a total of 6,700,125 foreign tourists in 2024, up from the 5,453,231 visitors seen in 2023.
Thai, Vietnamese and Chinese citizens accounted for 64.7% of the total.
Thai nationals numbered 2,146,674, or 32% of the total foreign arrivals (a 17.9% increase), followed by 1,340,587 Vietnamese citizens, 20% of the total (up 31.5%), with 848,952 Chinese accounting for 12.7% (a 55% rise). The average length of stay was not provided.
Other top sources were Laos (334,448, 5%), the US (214,529, 3.2%), South Korea (192,305, 2.9%), Indonesia (166,795, 2.5%), France (131,738, 2%), the UK (115,148, 1.7%) and Japan (112,718, 1.7%).
Chhay Sivlin, president of the Cambodia Association of Travel Agents, told The Post that after a sharp early 2020 decline caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the tourism sector has gradually started to recover. However, during this period, she noted that most foreign visitors have come from neighbouring countries and the wider region.
She believed that if the global political and economic situation continues to improve, the number of foreign arrivals will increase further. She said the government is currently making efforts to improve infrastructure, legal systems and human resources to better prepare for their arrival.
“Tourism is closely linked to the economy and politics. Given that the global economy hasn’t yet fully recovered to pre-2020 levels, Cambodia can’t yet attract a large number of tourists from distant countries. However, in the last few months of 2024, we saw more tourists from a variety of nationalities entering Cambodia,” she added.
On January 27, Minister of Tourism Hout Hak met with ambassadors from Bulgaria, Romania, Greece, Cyprus, Belgium, Austria, the Netherlands, Brunei and the Philippines at the tourism ministry headquarters. He urged them to promote Cambodia as a tourism destination on the international stage.
He also informed them that the price of visas has been reduced, with the tourist (T) visa dropping from $36 to $30, and the ordinary (E) visa from $42 to $35, effective January 1, 2025.
According to Angkor Enterprise, which sells foreign guests tickets to the Angkor Archaeological Park, 1,023,688 foreign tourists bought tickets to visit the famed temples in 2024, generating $47.83 million in revenue, a 28.27% increase from the previous year.
By contrast, 2019 saw more than 2.2 million ticket sales at the Siem Reap temples, suggesting that the current crop of international guests is less interested in exploring the Kingdom’s world-renowned cultural treasures than the previous arrivals.
