Cambodia recorded 3.92 million international tourist arrivals for the first nine months of this year, which represented a 211 percent year-on-year rise, reported Vietnam News Agency on Sunday, citing Cambodia’s Ministry of Tourism.
The top three feeder markets for Cambodia’s international tourist arrivals for the January to September period, were Thailand, Vietnam, and China, according to the agency’s report.
Cambodia is expected to have “at least 5 million” international tourist arrivals for 2023, the news outlet also mentioned, citing remarks from a Cambodian secretary of state and spokesman for the tourism industry, Top Sopheak.
Hong Kong-listed NagaCorp Ltd – operator of NagaWorld, a casino resort monopoly in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh – reported a 46.3 percent year-on-year growth in gross gaming revenue (GGR) generated in the referral VIP market for the nine months to September 30.
The growth was “in line with” Cambodia’s recovery in the tourism sector, the company remarked in an unaudited results update, filed in early October.
In July comments to GGRAsia, Tim McNally, non-executive chairman of NagaCorp, the firm’s operating environment had benefitted from “political stability” in Cambodia. The company separately made reference to a national general election in late July, and what NagaCorp called the “smooth formation” of a new government on August 22.
NagaCorp had stated in its early October filing: “Cambodia is expected to continue its upward trajectory of recovery with an influx of tourist arrivals, business visitation and expected surge in foreign direct investments into the country, resulting in an increased number of investors and a growing domestic expatriate population.”
“The group believes that NagaWorld, being the only integrated resort in Phnom Penh, will benefit from this with increasing footfall from customers,” it added.
