Cambodia attracted some 268,130 Chinese tourists during the first half of 2023, up 771.8 percent from 30,754 in the same period last year, said a Ministry of Tourism report released on Tuesday.

During the January-June period this year, China was the third-largest source of foreign visitors to the Southeast Asian country after Thailand and Vietnam, the report said.

It added that 870,725 Thais and 463,487 Vietnamese people travelled to Cambodia, up 547.7 percent and 223.6 percent, respectively, year on year.

Cambodian Tourism Minister Thong Khon said China’s reopening earlier this year has injected vigorous impetus into Cambodia’s tourism growth.

“China is the most important outbound tourism market for the world, so China’s resumption of outbound tourism is very beneficial not only to Cambodia but also to the whole world,” he told Xinhua.

According to the report, a total of 2.58 million international tourists from around the world visited the kingdom in the first half of this year, up 409 percent from 506,762 in the same period last year.

Tourism is one of the four pillars supporting Cambodia’s economy. The country is famous for its three world heritage sites, namely the Angkor Archaeological Park in the north western Siem Reap province, the Preah Vihear temple in the north western Preah Vihear province, and the Sambor Prei Kuk archaeological site in the central Kampong Thom province.

Besides, it has a pristine coastline stretching 450 km in the four south-western provinces of Koh Kong, Preah Sihanouk, Kampot and Kep. Xinhua