Crooner Keating rocks Cambodia into the spotlight

AFP

Irish pop star Ronan Keating, who is playing Cambodia's first major international concert Wednesday, said he hoped his appearance would encourage tourists to visit the impoverished country.

"I hope that me coming here opens up doors and allows people to understand that: Come on, let's go to Cambodia -- and more bands should come over here and hype it up, big it up," Keating said at a press conference.

"I hope that this opens a massive door to allow other artists to come through and do shows here and also for tourism in Cambodia, to make more people understand, come on over and check it out," he added.

The former frontman of boy band Boyzone will perform in Phnom Penh's Olympic Stadium on Wednesday night.

Cambodia has hosted a number of minor foreign music acts in recent years, but Keating's concert is intended to open the way for greater international exposure for the country.

One of the poorest countries in the world, Cambodia is struggling to recover from decades of civil war, and tourism is one of the kingdom's few viable money-spinners.

Tourist arrivals in Cambodia jumped more than 20 percent to about 1.7 million in 2006.

Keating's concert is part of a one-week Asian tour which also included performances in Bangkok and Taipei.

Since first hitting the stage with Boyzone in 1994, Keating has racked up 28 top 10 hits and sold more than 21 million albums worldwide.