Tourism in Cambodia

View of Angkor Wat in Siem Reap. Today Angkor Wat is Cambodia's main tourist attraction 
and is visited by many tourists from around the world.

Cambodia is a Southeast Asian nation whose landscape spans low-lying plains, the Mekong Delta, mountains and Gulf of Thailand coastline. Phnom Penh, its capital, is home to the art deco Central Market, glittering Royal Palace and the National Museum's historical and archaeological exhibits. In the country's northwest are the ruins of Angkor Wat, a massive stone temple complex built during the Khmer Empire.

The tourism industry is the country's second-greatest source of hard currency after the textile industry. Between January and December 2007, visitor arrivals were 2.0 million, an increase of 18.5% over the same period in 2006. Most visitors (51%) arrived through Siem Reap with the remainder (49%) through Phnom Penh and other destinations.

Other tourist destinations include Sihanoukville in the south west which has several popular beaches and the sleepy riverside town of Battambang in the north west, both of which are a popular stop for backpackers who make up a large of portion of visitors to Cambodia. The area around Kampot and Kep including the Bokor Hill Station are also of interest to visitors. Tourism has increased steadily each year in the relatively stable period since the 1993 UNTAC elections; in 1993 there were 118,183 international tourists, and in 2009 there were 2,161,577 international tourists.

Most of the tourists were Japanese, Chinese, Filipinos, Americans, South Koreans and French, said the report, adding that the industry earned some 1.4 billion US dollars in 2007, accounting for almost ten percent of the kingdom's gross national product. Chinese-language newspaper Jianhua Daily quoted industry officials as saying that Cambodia will have three million foreign tourist arrivals in 2010 and five million in 2015. Tourism has been one of Cambodia's triple pillar industries. The Angkor Wat historical park in Siem Reap province, the beaches in Sihanoukville and the capital city Phnom Penh are the main attractions for foreign tourists.

Cambodia's tourist souvenir industry employs a lot of people around the main places of interest. Obviously, the quantity of souvenirs that are produced is not sufficient to face the increasing number of tourists and a majority of products sold to the tourists on the markets are imported from China, Thailand and Vietnam. Some of the locally produced souvenirs include:

• Krama (traditional scarf)
• Ceramic works
• Soap, candle, spices
• Wood carving, lacquer ware, silver plating
• Painted bottles containing infused rice wine

Annual statistics of tourism

Year	Tourism Arrivals	changes	references
2015	4,775,231	6.1%	[2]
2014	4,502,775	7.0%	[3]
2013	4,210,165	17.5%	[4]
2012	3,584,307	24.4%	[5]
2011	2,881,862	14.9%	[6]
2010	2,508,289	16.0%	[7]
2009	2,161,577	1.7%	[8]
2008	2,125,465	1.5%	[9]
2007	2,015,128	18.5%	[10]
2006	1,700,041	19.6%	[11]
2005	1,421,615	34.7%	[12]
2004	1,055,202	50.5%	[13]

Ranking of International Visitor arrivals in Cambodia

Rank	Country or territory	Jan-Nov 2016	2015	2014	2013	2012	2011
*	ASEAN	1,843,256	2,097,758	1,918,130	1,831,507	1,514,267	1,101,111
1	Vietnam*	844,181	987,792	905,801	854,104	763,136	614,090
2	China	736,502	694,712	560,335	463,123	333,894	247,197
3	Laos*	314,415	405,359	460,191	414,531	254,022	128,525
4	South Korea	315,553	395,259	424,424	435,009	411,491	342,810
5	Thailand*	334,111	349,908	279,457	221,259	201,422	116,758
6	United States	211,405	217,510	191,366	184,964	173,076	153,953
7	Japan	169,669	193,330	215,788	206,932	179,327	161,804
8	Malaysia*	136,335	149,389	144,437	130,704	116,764	102,929
9	France	133,834	145,724	141,052	131,486	121,175	117,408
10	Australia	128,985	134,748	134,167	132,028	117,729	105,010
11	United Kingdom	143,624	154,265	133,306	123,919	110,182	104,052
12	Philippines*	97,978	84,677	93,475	118,999	97,487	70,718
13	Germany	96,064	94,040	84,143	81,565	72,537	63,398
14	Singapore*	60,376	67,669	65,855	57,808	53,184	47,594
15	Russia	45,444	55,500	108,601	131,675	99,750	67,747

* Country in ASEAN

Reference: 

1. http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2732.htm 

2. http://www.myfunkytravel.com/backpacking-route-south-east-asia.html

3.https://web.archive.org/web/20110304011512/http://www.cambodia-tourism.org/download/Cambodia_Touris_ Statistics _2010.pdf

4. http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-01/07/content_7377419.htm

5.http://www.aha-kh.com/

6.http://www.senteursdangkor.com/html/en/our_products.php/

7.http://www.artisansdangkor.com/shop/en/

8.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambodia

9.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tourism_in_Cambodia