Int'l tourists to Cambodia's Angkor expected to rebound from 2021
Cambodia predicted that international visitors to its famous Angkor Archeological Park will start to rebound gradually from next year if COVID-19 vaccines are available, a spokesman of the Ministry of Tourism has said.
The Angkor temple complex in Cambodia's Siem Reap province (Photo: AFP/VNA)
Phnom Penh (VNA) - Cambodiapredicted that international visitors to its famous Angkor Archeological Parkwill start to rebound gradually from next year if COVID-19 vaccines areavailable, a spokesman of the Ministry of Tourism has said.
Top Sopheak forecast that Chinawill remain the largest source of tourists to the Southeast Asian nation duringthe post-COVID-19 period.
The Angkor Archeological Park, Cambodia’stop tourist destination, has seen a huge slump in foreign tourists during thefirst nine months of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic that has forced thecountry to impose entry restrictions for all foreign travellers since March.
Located in northwest Siem Reapprovince, the world heritage site received 396,241 international visitorsduring the January-September period, down 76 percent over the same period lastyear, according to an Angkor Enterprise's report.
The ancient site got 18.45million USD in revenue from ticket sales during the first nine months of theyear, also down 75 percent year-on-year, the report said.
In September alone, the sitereceived 2,948 foreigners earning 124,296 USD from ticket sales, down 97.3percent and 97.4 percent, respectively compared to the same month last year, itsaid.
The spokesman said prior to theCOVID-19, the site attracted around 9,000 foreign tourists a day, butcurrently, it receives about 70 a day and those are foreigners living andworking in Cambodia./.
Ticket sales at Cambodia’s Angkor Archaeological Park declined 99.5 percent to only 29,368 USD in April from almost 7 billion USD year-on-year due to travelling restriction measures during the COVID-19 outbreak.
The COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc on Cambodia’s tourism industry, with nearly 3,000 tourism and tourism-related businesses closing and more than 45,000 workers losing jobs as of May.
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Cambodia earned 18.45 million USD in revenue from the sale of tickets at Angkor Archaeological Park in the first nine months of 2020, a 75 percent decrease year-on-year due to impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Angkor Enterprise.
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The Angkor temple complex in Cambodia's Siem Reap province (Photo: AFP/VNA) 
