Revenue from ticket sales at Angkor Archaeological Park reached only $69.4 million during the first eight months this year – an 11.82 per cent year-on-year decrease, said an Angkor Enterprise report on Sunday.

The report shows that a total of 1.5 million tickets were sold to foreign visitors. This represents a 11.05 per cent drop year-on-year.

Revenue from ticket sales last month alone was more than $7.1 million – down 21.50 per cent year-on-year.

Cambodia Association of Travel Agents president Chhay Sivlin previously told The Post that the sharp decline in tourists to the historical site may be due to strong competition with neighbouring countries.

“There is strong competition with Thailand and Vietnam in the tourism sector. They give discounts on airfare, easily grant visas and some Asean countries even do not charge visa fees to attract tourists,” she said.

Sivlin said visa services at the Kingdom’s land borders are complicated and slow for international tourists, while there is a shortage of direct flights to international destinations.

In July, Minister of Tourism Thong Khon cited zero-dollar tourism as the main contributor to the decline in the number of foreign visitors to Siem Reap province.

He said “zero-dollar” tour operators are “destroyers of tourist destinations in Siem Reap province”.

A Ministry of Tourism report said Cambodia received more than 3.3 million foreign tourists in the first six months of this year – an 11 per cent year-on-year increase.