ARRIVALS to Cambodia increased by 13 percent to 1,385,029 during the first six months compared year on year, with Vietnam as the largest source of tourists, according to Ministry of Tourism statistics.

However, visitors from Japan barely increased, while Thai tourists declined by over a third during the six months, the statistics show.

Minister of Tourism Thong Khon said that increased direct flights to Cambodia were one of the main reasons behind the overall increase in arrivals.

“We saw that tourists increase because Cambodia … is making it easier for large number of foreigners to visit our country,” he said.

Vietnam was the largest source of tourists, with 289,736 visitors to the Kingdom in the first half, an 18.5 percent increase on the first six months last year.

Some 172,568 visitors arrived from South Korea, a 19.5 percent increase, while China came third with 133,775 tourists, a 34.9 percent increase.

Meanwhile, Thai visitors decreased by 36.4 percent to 48,136 visitors, while Japanese visitors climbed 1.7 percent to 76,278 during the period.

The Ministry has forecast a total of 2.73 million visitors to Cambodia for 2011, and claimed revenue from the sector ought to total $1.91 billion during the year.