Cambodia's Angkor Wat attracted 639,800 tourists in Q1 [... and all the revenue will be pocketed by Xok Kong!]

PHNOM PENH (April 20, 2012, Bernama): Cambodia's Angkor Wat temples, one of the world heritage sites, has attracted 639,800 tourists, an increase of 45 percent, in the first quarter of this year.

Tourists from top three countries visitng Angkor Wat are South Korea, Vietnam and China, respectively, the statistics of Siem Reap provincial tourism department said Friday.

During the period from January to March this year, some 132,750 South Koreans, 75,088 Vietnamese, and 49,231 Chinese had visited the temples, up 67 percent, 15 percent and 54 percent respectively, reports Xinhua news agency.

"We see that the visitors from South Korea and China are on the sharp rise," Chhoeuy Chhorn, administration chief of Siem Reap provincial tourism department, told Xinhua via telephone.

He attributed the rise to the broader promotion of the temples to the world in combination with increased flights and more direct flight connection between Asian countries and Siem Reap province.

Siem Reap's Angkor archeological park is the country's largest cultural tourism destination; it is located some 315 km northwest of Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia.

An entrance fee to visit the temples is US$20 a day for a foreign visitor, US$40 for a three-day visit and US$60 for a week-long visit.

Last year, the temples attracted 1.6 million foreign visitors, an increase of 23 percent.

The tourism industry is one of the main four pillars supporting the Cambodian economy. The others are garment industry, agriculture and real estates.