Angkor Archaeological Park visitors down 15% in 2019

via Xinhua, 01 Jan 2020 and Khmer Times, 02 Jan 2020: I’ve covered the decline of visitors to Angkor in the past year (see here, here and here). It could be that the archaeological park has reached peak tourism, or that the economy is causing a decline in visitors from China and the US. The Cambodian government is seeking to develop other tourism products in the country, which may suggest that tourism to Angkor may decline further in the future.

Cambodia’s famed Angkor Archeological Park received 2.2 million foreign tourists in 2019, down 14.8 percent year-on-year, said a press statement on Wednesday.

The world heritage site made gross revenue of 99 million U.S. dollars from ticket sales last year, down 15 percent year-on-year, said the state-run Angkor Enterprise’s statement.

China, the United States, and South Korea remained the biggest sources of foreign arrivals to the ancient park.

Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen said in August that the slump in the number of tourists to the Angkor in northern Siem Reap province should not be a cause for concern because it was the result of a government push to diversify the kingdom’s tourism offer.

Source: Cambodia’s Angkor attracts 2.2 mln foreign tourists last year | Xinhua, 01 Jan 2020