THE number of international tourists visiting Siem Reap’s Angkor Wat temples increased 23 percent year-on-year through July, with statistics showing notable growth in travellers from Vietnam, South Korea, China and Japan.

Some 907,463 tourists arrived at Angkor Wat in the first seven months of 2011, up from 736,371 during the same period last year, according to the Siem Reap Tourism Department’s latest figures.

Nearly 5,000 people per day visit the attraction for its internationally recognised temples and cultural and historic resorts, Department Director Ngov Seng Kak said last week.

“Angkor Wat has the potential to attract increased numbers of tourists each year,” he said. “I hope it will continue to increase by a lot this year.”

Vietnam continues to play a role in Cambodia’s growing tourism industry.

Khuy Kry, chief of Immigration Police at Bavet International Checkpoint, said yesterday that more than 1,000 Vietnamese enter Cambodia everyday. Many of them travel to Angkor Wat, as well as Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville.

Bavet, Cambodia’s largest land border crossing with Vietnam, saw 378,549 foreigners enter the Kingdom between January and July, according to statistics provided by the checkpoint. That was an increase of 15 percent compared to the same period in 2010.

“We are seeing visitors increase because we have good-quality infrastructure, good services and good security for them,” Khuy Kry said.

Ministry statistics showed 2.5 million foreign tourists visited the Kingdom in 2010.