In the first eight months of this year, nearly 1 million international tourists visited Cambodia. It is expected that Cambodia is likely to receive between 1.5 and 2 million international visitors by the end of the year.

The Ministry of Tourism said on September 9 that Cambodia's main sources of tourists included Thailand, Vietnam, China, the United States, Indonesia, France, Korea, Malaysia, the United Kingdom and Laos.

Touch Kosal, president of the Cambodia Tourism Workers' Union Federation, said the forecast was still unpredictable, as there were still confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the Kingdom.

“I think this projection will be reached in the future providing Covid-19 is no longer a problem and there are no more restrictions or checkpoints. Although it may not reach 2 million tourists, the numbers are increasing steadily, so it is possible,” he said.

He said the increase will also depend on tourism across the region –should more visitors travel to Cambodia’s neighbours, the numbers travelling to the Kingdom will increase.

Ministry of Tourism secretary of state and spokesman Top Sopheak said that while there are currently no restrictions on visitors, proof of vaccination is required.

“We don't need anything anymore – we just need to see a vaccination card. Foreigners who are unvaccinated are required to undergo a rapid test, and assuming it is negative, are welcome to travel anywhere in the country,” he said.

The tourism ministry said from January through August 2022, a total of 998,272 international tourists visited Cambodia – an increase of 720 per cent, when compared to the same period in 2021. When compared with pre-pandemic figures from 2019, Cambodia still has a decrease of 77 per cent.

Of the nearly 1 million foreign visitors, 396,591 of them had arrived by air, indicating an increase of 595 per cent, while 601,681 others entered the kingdom by land or water –an increase of 831 per cent over last year.