CAMBODIA’S Tourism Ministry has released latest statistics that show a 38.4% year-on-year drop in the number of foreign tourist arrivals in August following five-day clashes with Thailand late July, PPTVHD 36 said today (Oct. 7).
Altogether 338,351 foreign visitors arrived in Cambodia in August, with this 38.4% decrease compared to the same month in 2024 being mainly due to Thai tourists staying away.
Chinese were the biggest group of tourists to Cambodia, totalling 97,456, a 30.2% increase from the same month a year ago.
Vietnamese tourists came in second, totalling 93,857, a 15.5% decrease from the same month the previous year. This drop likely stemmed from decreased spending power and uncertainty arising from the border conflict.
Thai tourists, once the primary source of income for Cambodia’s tourism sector, dropped to third place with only 16,137 arrivals. This is a sharp decrease from the previous record of nearly 200,000 arrivals.
The main factor is the border conflict, which has led to flight and hotel cancellations and severely impacted tourism, service and retail businesses near the border.
Overall, during the first eight months of 2025, Cambodia welcomed over 4 million international tourists, a 5.6% decrease compared to the same period last year.
However, Thailand remained the largest source market during this period with 962,462 arrivals, a 28% decrease year-on-year.
Second place was Vietnam with 808,471 arrivals, and third place China with 784,965 arrivals, a 45.7% increase compared to the previous year. This reflects the significant role China is playing in sustaining Cambodia’s economy, which relies heavily on tourism.
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Cambodian capital Phnom Penh. Photo above – PPTVHD 36, Front Page – Roth Chanvirak on Unsplash
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