China visitors to Siem Reap seen at 240-300K in 2023: ministry

• Published date: 10 March 2023
• Publication title: The Phnom Penh Post

Some 30 per cent of the 0.8-1.0 million projected mainland Chinese travellers to Cambodia this year are expected to visit Siem Reap province, as the Kingdom hosts the 32nd Southeast Asian (SEA) Games and 12th ASEAN Para Games, the annual Angkor Sangkran, and a variety of other key local events, according to Ministry of Tourism secretary of state Top Sopheak.

International flights to and from Cambodian have been on a steady increase as Covid-19 wanes, signalling a post-pandemic comeback for the aviation industry and acting as a meaningful source of general optimism for the Kingdom.

Revelling in this trend, senior tourism ministry officials have been holding a series of welcome ceremonies at the Kingdom's three international airports for passengers aboard direct flights from China, after Beijing's January 8 reopening to inbound and outbound tourism.

The latest of these was on March 3, when ministry officials held an event to greet China Eastern Airlines Corp Ltd's inaugural flight on its Shanghai-Siem Reap route.

The ministry's Sopheak led a delegation from the ministry, along with officials of the provincial administration and representatives from Cambodia Airports - a joint venture that manages the Kingdom's airports - to welcome the Airbus A320 when it touched down. Flight MU2091 carried 132 Chinese passengers.

According to him, China Eastern will fly the Shanghai-Siem Reap route thrice a week - on Tuesday, Friday and Sunday.

Official estimates for the number of international visitors to the Kingdom for 2023 have been given at four million, 0.8-1.0 million of them expected to come from mainland China, he reaffirmed.

Sopheak had told The Post that some 25,000 Chinese mainlanders visited the Kingdom in January, compared to 2,500 a year earlier. Although this was roughly three per cent of the full-year targets, he seemed quite convinced that numbers would pick up and at least breach the lower bound of the range.

At present, Siem Reap International Airport sees an average of 250 flights a week and an average of 1,700-1,800 international tourists a day, according to the ministry.

Other notable welcome ceremonies were held on January 27 for Ruili...