The number of international visitors to Cambodia totalled 159,546 in the first quarter of this year, marking a 125 per cent increase from last year’s figure. More than half of all visitors entered the Kingdom by air, according to the tourism ministry.

The increase comes as the country, like many others worldwide, begins to dial back its Covid-19 restrictions. Industry observers have expressed optimism that tourism gains will extend into the rest of 2022 on the back of the recent removal of coronavirus testing requirements for fully-vaccinated arrivals.

The ministry reported that in the January-March period, 86,976 visitors entered Cambodia through its three international airports, an increase of 159.4 per cent year-on-year, and 72,570 arrived either overland or via waterways, up by 94.2 per cent.

Phnom Penh International Airport logged 74,820 air passenger arrivals, an increase of 176.5 per cent from last year’s figures, with Siem Reap International Airport receiving 10,376 arrivals, or a nearly 100 per cent increase. Bucking the positive trend was Sihanouk international Airport, which received 1,780 people – a fall of 72.5 per cent.

Vietnam emerged as the top source of tourists at 46,303, up by 1,200 per cent, followed by Thailand, with 39,615, an increase of 12.2 per cent. The only major market to register a year-on-year drop was China’s, with the Kingdom recording 9,753 visitors from the mainland, the ministry said.

The US came in third with 8,820 visitors, up 876.7 per cent, with Indonesia coming fourth at 8,578, or a 268 per cent increase. Other significant sources of tourists were France, South Korea, Malaysia, and the UK.

Ministry of Tourism spokesman Top Sopheak told The Post that effective control of Covid-19 and the success of the vaccination campaign had prompted Cambodia to reopen its economic activities quickly.

Cambodia has been ranked on a number of prominent international lists as being amongst the top countries in Asia and the world for Covid-19 management. Sopheak said that these factors have “contributed significantly” to attracting foreigners to Cambodia both as tourists and investors.

He credited the increase in the cross-country movement of domestic tourists as being a key factor in the reinvigoration of foreign tourism in the Kingdom, citing a ministry estimate that an average of 200,000-250,000 national residents make domestic trips every weekend.

“Cambodia is now known as a safe tourism destination and the flow of national residents is also increasing significantly, which has been contributing to attracting foreign tourists to come to Cambodia,” he said.

Cambodia Association of Travel Agents president Chhay Sivlin said that the general uptrend in international tourism metrics has been primarily due to the rise in Covid-19 vaccination rates and accompanying low transmission rates, which she said have convinced foreign visitors and investors to visit the Kingdom this year.

As of April 29, over 14.93 million people over the age of 3 had received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, representing 93.33 per cent of the estimated 16 million population, according to Ministry of Health figures.

Sivlin predicted that the number of international visitors would continue to grow in the coming months. “Since the end of 2021, not only have international visitors gradually returned, but airlines that had temporarily ceased operations are also formally requesting to resume flights,” she told The Post.

Cambodia booked just $184 million in international tourism revenue last year – an 82 per cent drop from $1.023 billion in 2020, as the pandemic effectively halted leisure travel worldwide.

Last year’s figure was down by more than 96 per cent from the all-time record of $4.919 billion in 2019, which had risen by 12.4 per cent over that of 2018, according to the tourism ministry.

The number of international tourists visiting the Kingdom also plummeted from 1,306,143 in 2020 to 196,495 in 2021 – a nearly 97.03 per cent drop from the record 6,610,592 logged in 2019.