PHNOM PENH, (PNA/Xinhua) — Cambodia registered steady growth in international tourist arrivals in the first nine months of the year although the political dispute between the ruling and opposition parties over contested elections in July remains unsolved, officials said Thursday.
Tith Chantha, secretary of state at the Ministry of Tourism, said the country attracted more than 3 million foreign tourists in the first nine months of the year, up around 19 percent year-on- year.
“We expect to greet 4.2 million tourists in the whole year of 2013,” he said.
Kong Sopheareak, chief of the ministry’s Planning and Statistics Department, said the political trouble in recent months has slight impact on the tourism industry.
“The growth is steadily up even in the election month in July and post-poll conflict,” he told Xinhua. “Foreign tourists have full trust in Cambodian security and political stability.”
He said that most tourists to Cambodia are from Vietnam, South Korea, China, Laos and Thailand.
Ang Kim Eang, president of the Cambodia Association of Travel Agents, which represents 220 tour and travel operators, said he did not see any decline in tourist arrivals due to the country’s political impasse.
“Foreign visitors had come to Cambodia as usual in the past few months, there was no any trip cancellation,” he told Xinhua.