Cambodia surpasses Philippines in foreign tourist numbers

By Hoang Vu November 10, 2024 | 07:08 pm PT

Tourists walk outside the Royal Palace in central Phnom Penh. Photo by Reuters

Cambodia welcomed 4.8 million foreign tourists in the first nine months of this year, marking a 22% year-on-year increase while the Philippines attracted only 4.08 million visitors.

Thailand topped the list of foreign tourist arrivals to Cambodia from January to September, with 1.52 million visitors, followed by Vietnam (973,000) and China (607,000), according to a report from Cambodia’s Ministry of Tourism.

Before the Covid-19 pandemic, the Philippines received 8.2 million foreign visitors, significantly more than Cambodia’s 6.6 million.

However, the Philippine tourism industry is now struggling to meet its goal of 7.7 million tourist arrivals by the end of this year.

This target "remains a moving target," due to strict policies toward Chinese visitors and limited visa flexibility, according to the Philippines' Department of Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia-Frasco, as reported by Philstar.

Major airlines in the Philippines have scaled back direct flights to China due to sluggish demand from Chinese tourists.

Before the pandemic, China was the second largest source of tourists to the Philippines, with over 1.7 million Chinese visitors in 2019. However, Chinese arrivals have remained at around 20% of pre-pandemic levels, with only 263,000 Chinese tourists visiting the Philippines in 2023.

The first half of this year saw just 199,000 arrivals from China.