Cambodia's famed Angkor Wat sees 98.6% drop in foreign visitors

Cambodia's famed Angkor Archeological Park received 5,329 foreign visitors in the first six months of 2021, down 98.6 per cent from 387,840 over the same period last year, according to an official statement.
The site made a gross revenue of $219,218 from ticket sales during the January-June period this year, also down over the same period last year, Xinhua news agency quoted the statement as saying.

In June alone, the park got 555 foreigners earning $22,010 from ticket sales, it said.

The huge slump in foreign travellers to the site was due to the Covid-19 pandemic that forced the country to suspend tourist visas to all foreign citizens since March last year.

"We hope Cambodia will open its door to fully-vaccinated foreign tourists in the fourth quarter of 2021," Ministry of Tourism spokesman Top Sopheak told Xinhua.

Located in northwest Siem Reap province, the Angkor Archeological Park, inscribed on the World Heritage List of the Unesco in 1992, is the kingdom's most popular tourist destination. - IANS