Local and international tourists visit Angkor Wat, the jewel in Cambodia’s tourism crown. Post Staff
Despite ongoing global challenges in politics, economics and the ongoing fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic, the number of foreign tourists travelling to Cambodia has continued to rise. In the first four months of 2025, the Kingdom welcomed over two million international visitors.
According to a June 5 report from the Ministry of Tourism, from January to April 2025, a total of 2.4 million foreign guests visited Cambodia, marking a 13.6% increase compared to the same period in 2024. Of these, 1.35 million (56.2%) entered via land borders, 1.01 million (42.1%) by air, and 40,159 (1.7%) by water.
The top origins of tourists visiting during this period were: Thailand: 674,134, Vietnam: 410,424, China: 387,505 and the US: 90,715. Other notable nationalities included Laos, South Korea, the UK, France, Indonesia and Japan.
To attract more international arrivals during the traditional low season, the tourism ministry recently launched the “Green Season” campaign.
The ministry forecasts that more than seven million international tourists will visit Cambodia in 2025.
“Through the continued implementation of key government measures and strategic plans from the ministry, we expect the number of international visitors to rise to between 7.2 and 7.5 million in 2025,” said tourism minister Huot Hak.
The year 2025 has been officially designated as the “Cambodia-China Tourism Year” by the governments of Cambodia and China, who aim to encourage more travel between the two nations.
Anheng Sokpheak, president of the Cambodia Chinese Tour Guide Association (CCTGA), told The Post that the April visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to Cambodia had a positive impact on multiple sectors, including tourism. He stated that encouragement from China's top leadership will certainly result in more Chinese tourists visiting Cambodia.
He added that Chinese tourists played a significant role in boosting Cambodia's economy prior to the global Covid-19 crisis that began in early 2020.
“Following President Xi Jinping’s state visit to Cambodia, I hope to see more investment and an influx of Chinese tourists, especially with 2025 designated as the Cambodia-China Tourism Year. This will likely drives up tourist numbers,” he said.
On June 4, during a visit to South Korea to attend the 40th Seoul International Travel Fair and other related events, the tourism minister held a meeting with Kim Yong Jae and a team from Korean TV network SBS to discuss strategies to attract more international tourists, particularly Korean travellers, to the Kingdom.
During the meeting, the Korean delegation proposed collaborating with the tourism ministry on a joint project to bring popular South Korean influencers to explore Cambodia’s tourism potential, especially during the unique and scenic “Green Season”.
