PHNOM PENH, Apr 20 (NNN-AKP) – Cambodia yesterday predicted that, international tourist arrivals to the kingdom this year would decline by another 70 percent, due to the ongoing impact of COVID-19.
“For 2021, due to the prolonged impact of COVID-19, Cambodia’s tourism is projected to continue to drop by another 60 to 70 percent,” the country’s Ministry of Tourism said, in its report.
The report said, the Southeast Asian country received 1.31 million international tourists in 2020, down 80 percent from 6.61 million in 2019.
Tourism earned a gross revenue of only 1.02 billion U.S. dollars last year, down 79 percent from 4.92 billion dollars in the year before, it said, adding that, the sector contributed only three percent to the country’s gross domestic product, down from 12 percent.
The huge slump resulted from the impact of COVID-19 forced the kingdom to impose entry restrictions for all foreign travellers, since Mar last year.
Ministry of Tourism secretary of state and spokesman, Top Sopheak, pinned hopes for a tourism recovery on COVID-19 vaccines.
Cambodia launched an anti-COVID-19 inoculation drive on Feb 10. So far, more than 1.2 million people in the priority groups have been vaccinated against the virus, a government report showed.– NNN-AKP
