Tourism officials on Thursday blamed the nearly 11 percent drop in visitor arrivals last year on the Iraq war, severe acute respiratory syndrome and the high cost of package tours.
Ministry of Tourism statistics show that 701,014 people visited the country in 2003, down from 786,524 in 2002. Visitor arrivals from the Middle East and Africa declined by about 85 percent last year compared to 2002. Visits from the US and Europe dropped about 16 percent.
The tourism sector pulled in about $300 million last year, making it the country’s second largest behind the garment industry, said Nuth Nin Doeurn, secretary of state at the ministry. If the country reaches its goal of 1 million visitors—a goal it has had for a few years now—the ministry predicts tourism revenue will jump to between $500 to $600 million.
The country saw a nearly
40 percent increase in visitors from Asean countries, led by the Philippines, Malaysia and Thailand. Though more visitors came from Japan than any other country, Japanese arrivals dropped by nearly 9 percent last year compared to 2002, statistics show.
Besides the global and regional effects of the war in Iraq and SARS, ministry officials also blamed the tourism decline on the high cost of package tours compared to other countries.
“Package tours remain higher here than in other neighboring countries because we don’t have direct flights from Europe…so tourists spend some time in another country,” Nuth Nin Doeurn said.
“I think the government and the private sector will find a way to reduce the operation cost or reduce the price of the package tours,” he added.
Following Japan, most visitors come from the US, South Korea and the United Kingdom. Arrivals from South Korea nearly tripled last year compared to 2002.
Visitor arrivals to Phnom Penh dropped more than twice as much as they did in Siem Reap. The government is going to focus its efforts in 2004 on attracting more tourists to Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville.
