Photo taken on April 5, 2022 shows the Bayon Temple in the Angkor Archeological Park in Siem Reap province, Cambodia. (Photo by Van Pov/Xinhua)
Cambodia's famed Angkor Archaeological Park has seen an eightfold increase in the number of foreign tourists as the country reopened its borders.
PHNOM PENH, June 8 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia's famed Angkor Archaeological Park had attracted 45,779 foreign tourists in the first five months of 2022, up 859 percent compared to the same period last year, said a press statement on Tuesday.
The ancient park made 1.85 million U.S. dollars in revenue from ticket sales during the January-May period this year, also up 841 percent year-on-year, said the state-owned Angkor Enterprise's statement.
In this May alone, the Angkor greeted 12,574 foreigners, earning 503,813 dollars, it said.
Situated in northwest Siem Reap province, the 401-square-km Angkor Archaeological Park, inscribed on the World Heritage List of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 1992, is the most popular tourist destination in the southeast Asian country.
Photo taken on April 5, 2022 shows the Angkor Wat Temple in the Angkor Archeological Park in Siem Reap province, Cambodia. (Photo by Van Pov/Xinhua)
Long Kosal, deputy director-general of the Apsara National Authority, a government agency responsible for managing, safeguarding and preserving the Angkor, said the site is expected to attract more tourists in the coming months and years as the COVID-19 pandemic has waned.
"As our country has reopened its borders to fully vaccinated travelers without quarantine, I believe that more international tourists will spend their holidays at the Angkor in the near future," he told Xinhua.
During the pre-pandemic era, Angkor received up to 2.2 million international visitors in 2019, generating 99 million U.S. dollars in revenue from ticket sales, according to Angkor Enterprise. ■
