Cambodia earned a gross revenue of $3.63 billion from the tourism industry last year

Cambodia is projected to attract up to 7.5 million international tourists in 2025, Tourism Minister Huot Hak said here on Wednesday.

The Southeast Asian nation received 6.7 million foreign visitors in 2024, a year-on-year increase of 23%, adding that the country earned a gross revenue of $3.63 billion from the tourism industry last year, a year-on-year rise of 18%.

“For 2025, we hope the number of international tourists to Cambodia will increase to between 7.2 million and 7.5 million,” he said in a speech during the opening ceremony of the Ministry of Tourism’s annual conference.

Tourism is one of four pillars supporting Cambodia’s economy, in addition to garment export, agriculture, real estate, and construction.

The tourism sector contributed about 9.4 percent to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2024, up from 7.5 percent in the year before, said a Ministry of Tourism report, adding that the sector has created 510,000 direct jobs.

In addition, with the aim of promoting the promotion of attracting tourists and investors to bring Cambodia to the world (Bring Cambodia to the World) and attracting the world to visit Cambodia (Bring the World to Cambodia), the conference also proposed continuing to organize more creative and market-oriented promotion campaigns, especially using digital technology and artificial intelligence (AI).

He added that our conference also requested to organize more and more innovative local tourism events, in addition to organizing events on the sea and rivers, to create events in mountainous areas or in eco-tourism areas across the country, and to maximize the potential of existing tourist destinations (such as the Angkor by Night initiative), promoting Muslim tourism, and diversifying tourism products.

In addition, he also raised the issue of challenges related to the dissemination of fake news and negative information that affects Cambodian tourism and Cambodia’s reputation on the international stage, and asked all ministries, relevant institutions, and the public to join in combating fake news and spreading positive information about Cambodia to the world.

It should be mentioned that, the government, through the Ministry of Tourism, continues to promote and provide various incentives to the private sector to attract international tourists. The e-Visa discount has been implemented since January 1. The (T) visa has been reduced from $36 to $30, and the (E) visa has been reduced from $42 to $35