PHNOM PENH: More than 1 million national and international tourists were recorded across the country during the Chinese New Year celebrations – from Jan. 21 to 24, said the Ministry of Tourism in a report released today.

Among the registered visitors, it added, 1,007,166 were national tourists and 42,056 others were foreign visitors. The most visited destination during the Chinese New Year is Preah Sihanouk coastal province, followed by the provinces of Siem Reap, Battambang, Kampot, Pailin, Kampong Cham, and Kep.

The ministry also noted the good management of security, safety, and order of local competent authorities during the celebrations. The number of foreign tourists to Cambodia in 2022 rose by 1,059 percent to 2.28 million, the Ministry of Tourism’s report showed on Tuesday.

The ministry tracked the movement of domestic tourists to 13.93 million last year, a year-on-year increase of 199 percent, it pointed out. Of the figure, 1.88 million domestic foreign tourists toured the country last year, a 572 percent increase over a year before, read the report.

The ministry also reported that there were 10,938 flight movements in the country, up from 2,139 flights recorded in 2021, of which 8,740 flights were handled by the Phnom Penh International Airport, 1,738 flights by Siem Reap International Airport, and 640 others by Preah Sihanouk International Airport.

Cambodia has expected to welcome around 2 million international tourists in 2022, with the hope that the number of international tourists will return to the pre-COVID-19 level of 7 million in 2026 or 2027.

Tourism is one of the four pillars supporting the Cambodian economy. For the pre-pandemic era, the Kingdom welcomed 6.6 million international tourists in 2019, generating US$4.92 billion in revenue.