PHNOM PENH, Feb. 22 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia is forecast to attract a high growth of Chinese tourists in 2026 as the kingdom sets to implement a pilot visa exemption for Chinese nationals from June 15 to Oct. 15 this year, Tourism Minister Huot Hak said.
Cambodia welcomed a total of 5.57 million international tourists in 2025, of which more than 1.2 million were Chinese tourists, representing a sharp rise of 41.5 percent year-on-year, he said on Saturday evening at the launch of the 10th China-Cambodia Mobile Film Tour.
China was the second-biggest source of foreign holidaymakers to the Southeast Asian country after Vietnam.
"This figure not only demonstrates the recovery of the tourism sector, but also serves as a clear testament to the confidence and high value placed by Chinese tourists on Cambodia, which is a safe and warm tourist destination with cultural diversity," Hak said.
"Based on this positive trend, we believe that the future of Cambodia's tourism sector is inseparable from the inflows of Chinese tourists and investors," he added.
The minister said Cambodia's forthcoming pilot visa-free policy for Chinese nationals "will become a catalyst for greater prosperity and lasting progress for our two nations."
Tourism is one of the four pillars supporting Cambodia's economy in addition to garment, footwear and travel goods export, agriculture, and construction and real estate.
The Southeast Asian country has five UNESCO-listed world heritage sites, namely the Angkor Archaeological Park, the Temple of Preah Vihear, the Temple Zone of Sambor Prei Kuk, the Koh Ker archaeological site, and the Cambodian Memorial Sites.
Besides, it has a pristine coastline stretching for about 450 kilometers in four Southwestern provinces of Preah Sihanouk, Kampot, Kep, and Koh Kong. ■