Beach line in Ochheuteal Beach, Sihanoukville
Cambodia's historical sites and coastal areas have seen increased number of local and foreign tourist visitors during this year's three-day Khmer New Year, according to provincial tourism departments.
Data from Siem Reap’s Tourism Department show 258,000 tourists visited the city of ancient temples, an increase of 44 percent compared to the same period last year. Local tourists reached 240,000, up 46 percent, while foreign tourists rose 17 percent to 18,000.
Chheuy Chhorn, Director of the Siem Reap Tourism Department, said the increase was largely due to the Angkor Sangkran festival, which has been running for the last two years.
“This year, more people from the provinces came to Siem Reap because they wanted to witness the Angkor Sangkran and the giant rice cake,” he noted, referring to the two-tonnes, $7000 rice cake which was on display in front of the Angkor Wat temple complex during the three-day festival.
Chhorn reported that all hotels and guesthouses in the province were fully booked and the crowds were as big as those seen at the annual water festival celebration in Phnom Penh.
Minster for Tourism Thorng Khon remarked that during the closing ceremony of the Angkor Sangkran on Wednesday, the festival had generated an estimated $28 million for Siem Reap’s economy.
Down south, meanwhile, Kampot province attracted 74,075 visitors during Khmer New Year. Soy Sinol, Director of the Kampot province Tourism Department, reported Bokor Mountain and Teuk Chhu remain the top destinations for local tourists, while foreign visitors prefer more adventurous destinations such as Kampong Trach cave.
Koh Kong, also on the coast but closer to the Thai border and home to the Cardamom Mountains, recorded more than 12,000 tourists over the three days.
Youn Tean, Deputy Director for the Koh Kong Tourism Department, mentioned that tourists mostly headed to the four ecotourism based communities of Ta Tai, Trapang Rong, Chi Phat and Bangka Yak.
Sok Seiha, an official from the Sihanoukville Tourism Department, noted more than 53,000 local and foreign tourists flooded the province, a 5 percent increase on last year’s figures.
Seiha shared that despite a notable increase in food and accommodation prices, all Sihanoukville hotels and guesthouses were full during the Khmer New Year period.
Som Chenda, the Director of the Tourism Department in Kep, where a reported 83,000 local and foreign tourists descended during the three-day New Year break, said that people should tolerate the increased price of food and accommodation during the holiday season.Source from http://b2b-cambodia.com
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