70% of hotels, guesthouses in Cambodia reopen after Covid wanes

Phnom Penh, Aug 29 Some 70 per cent of hotels and guesthouses in Cambodia have resumed their operations after the Covid-19 pandemic waned, the Ministry of Tourism said in a report on Monday.

The report said some 520 out of a total of 739 hotels and guesthouses in the kingdom have so far reopened, as 190 continued to halt their businesses and 29 permanently closed, reports Xinhua news agency.

Meanwhile, some 2,166 restaurants, or 85.6 per cent of the kingdom's total 2,529, have so far resumed their operations, as 363 establishments are still either suspended or closed, the report added.

Ministry of Tourism's secretary of state and spokesman Top Sopheak said Siem Reap, home to the famed Angkor Archaeological Park, was the worst affected province as 90 per cent of businesses were suspended or totally closed in the last two years.

However, 46 per cent of those affected businesses have reopened as the Tourism Industry recorded a sharp rise of international tourists after the country reopened its borders to travellers without quarantine since November last year.

"We hope that during the peak tourist season of October, November and December, the number of international tourists will increase further so that it will help those previously-closed tourism businesses to reopen," he said in a statement.

Currently, some 5,000 international visitors come to Cambodia each day, including 700 to 800 to Siem Reap province, Sopheak said.

Tourism is one of four pillars supporting Cambodia's economy.

The country attracted more than 740,000 international visitors in the first seven months of 2022, an increase of 560 per cent compared to the same period last year, according to the Ministry of Tourism.

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