As data for the difficult year of 2020 is starting to be released, the state-owned Angkor Enterprise said the famous Angkor Archeological Park received 81.8 per cent fewer visitors than in 2019.
In total, the Angkor Archeological Park received 400,889 foreign visitors in 2020 and generated USD $18.65 million in revenue from ticket sales, which is down 81 per cent from USD $99 million in 2019.
Ministry of Tourism secretary of state and spokesman Top Sopheak said: “If COVID-19 vaccines are available, we hope that the number of international visitors to the ancient site will start to rebound gradually.”
December 2020 saw a dramatic drop in tourism numbers due to COVID-19, in what would usually be considered peak season, with only 1,169 foreigners visiting – a drop of 99 per cent compared to the same month in 2019.
Cambodia’s economy 2021
The National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) has forecast that the Kingdom’s estimated economic growth will be 4 per cent in 2021, according to its Macroeconomic and Banking Sector Update 2020 report, said the Khmer Times.
The Cambodian Ministry of Tourism also announced it had drafted a recovery roadmap 2020-2025 and a strategy to deal with the massive impact of COVID-19 late in 2020.
The 2020-2025 strategy is split into three main phases.
- Crisis Management in the New Normal and Tourism Resilience and Restart for 2020-2021.
- Post-Covid-19 Crisis Rehabilitation and Recovery for 2022-2023.
- Preparation for New Future of Cambodia Tourism Sector for 2024-2025.
