THE number of foreign tourists visiting Cambodia through July climbed 14 per cent year-on-year, with the most arrivals coming from Vietnam, South Korea and China, according to the latest Ministry of Tourism figures.

Improved transportation, greater promotion of the Kingdom to world markets and widely recognised security and safety standards helped to drive growth for the period, said Minister of Tourism Thong Khon yesterday.

“We strongly believe the number of tourists will continue to increase this year because there are a lot of connected flights and linkages now between Cambodia and other ASEAN nations, as well as Europe,” he said.

The ministry has forecast 2.8 million visitors will come to Cambodia in 2011, generating revenues of US$1.91 billion. Thong Khon said the ministry plans to boost the number of eco-tourism destinations and similar nature-based resorts as a way to reach those projected numbers.

The most foreign tourists arrived from Vietnam, totalling about 351,000, followed by South Korea’s near 199,000 and China’s 136,000. While the number of visitors from Vietnam and South Korea rose almost 20 per cent year-on-year, the number of Chinese soared 38 per cent.

The US and Japan ranked fourth and fifth, respectively.

The total number of tourists entering the Kingdom in 2010 increased 16 per cent compared to the year before, reaching around 2.5 million, according to the Ministry of Tourism.