Chinese tourists to Cambodia's Angkor world heritage site continue to grow

PHNOM PENH, April 13, 2014 (Xinhua) -- The number of Chinese visitors to Cambodia's Angkor Wat temple, one of the World Heritage Sites, has continued to grow in the first two months of this year, a tourism official said Sunday.

Some 71,100 Chinese had visited the 12th century temple during the January-February period this year, up 10.5 percent compared with the same period last year, said Chhoeuy Chhorn, administration chief of the tourism department in Siem Reap province, where the temple is located.

"China is the second largest source of tourists to the temple after South Korea," he told Xinhua by telephone.

He said last year, the temple greeted about 266,500 Chinese tourists, up 50 percent year-on-year.

"The continued increase in Chinese tourists to the ancient temple is thanks to excellent Cambodian-Chinese ties, broader promotion of the Angkor to the globe, and more direct flight connection between Cambodia and various cities in China," he said.

In December, Air China began operating regular flights between China's Beijing and Cambodia's Siem Reap province, and Cambodia' s national flag carrier Cambodia Angkor Air launched its regular flight linking Cambodia to China's Shanghai.

Angkor Wat temple, inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1992, is the kingdom's largest tourist destination. It is located in Siem Reap province in the distance of roughly 315 km northwest of capital Phnom Penh.

An entrance fee to the site is 20 U.S. dollars a day for a foreigner, 40 U.S. dollars for a three-day visit and 60 U.S. dollars for a week-long visit.