Five million People Make Domestic Tours during Khmer New Year

APD NEWS

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By APD writer Kin Ratha

PHNOM PENH, April 19 (APD) - Cambodian people and foreigners at some 5.2 million made domestic tours nationwide during three-day Khmer New Year period, up 23 percent compared to the same period last year, according to report from Ministry of Tourism, stated that Siem Reap province, the Angkor Sangkranta Festival taking place drew in the most tourists.

Started from 14 to 16, April, the Khmer traditional New Year is one of country’s long holiday periods, received.

Of the number, some 5.1 million are Cambodian people and some 90,000 are foreign tourists, stated the report, which groups 25 provinces and a city into six destinations –Phnom Penh, Siem Reap areas, coastal areas, northeast, Battambang areas, and others.

Siem Reap province received the most number of tourists during the period, with 1.8 million tourists including 36,698 foreign tourists, while coastal area –including four provinces –Sihanoukville, Kampot, Kep, and Koh Kong received total number of nearly a half million both national and foreigners.

Northeast provinces –Kratie, MondulKiri, Ratanakirir, and Stung Treng, the well-known tourism sites as eco-tourism, received a record of tourist arrivals during the period of 262,958 national and 2,529 foreign tourists, the report showed.

Phnom Penh, the capital city, one of the country’s main tourism poles, saw the number of tourists during the three day period flat, at 170,000 due to massive fled out of city for provinces for tours.

Tourism Minister Thong Khon highly valued the increase of holiday makers during the Khmer New Year period due to better accessible transportation to elsewhere in the country and with preparation in each tourism destination to receive tourists.

“In Khmer New Year this year, we observed that there were more people made tour from provinces to visit. With accessible infrastructure, more people start to make tours,” Mr. Khon said.

Ho Vandy, secretary general of Cambodian National Tourism Alliance, said that with growing arrival of tourists to tourism sites, littering trash is the issue that would result worse to tourism.

“If the tourism sites are littered fully by trash, no tourists want to visit again that place. Trash is enemy of tourism,” Mr. Vandy said, who called all relevant parties from local authorities, tourists, and tour operators to join hands to clean the cities and tourism sites clean.

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)