Cambodian arrivals up, despite tensions
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Tourist arrivals to Cambodia have risen 13% in the first six months of 2008, the Phnom Penh Post has reported. The figures come as a welcome boost to the country, as it continues to be embroiled in a tense stand-off with neighbouring Thailand in the border region close to the newly UNESCO-listed Preah Vihear temple site. Cambodia’s Ministry of Tourism, which published the figures, believes it is now on target to receive 2.3 million tourists by the end of the year.
“I think the temple tension does not affect the tourists’ arrivals,” said Suos Yara, Deputy Director General of Cambodia’s National Tourist Authority.
However tourist arrivals in the month of June did decline to approximately 130,000 in June compared to 150,000 in May, with Ho Vandy, President of Cambodian Association of Travel Agents, believing that the temple dispute had an affect on visitor numbers. “Tourist arrivals declined in June for three reasons: the high price of transportation, the election in Cambodia and the temple confrontation,” Vandy said, adding that exaggerated media reports were responsible for scaring away potential tourists.
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