Visitation to Cambodia increased 24% last year, driven by an influx of tourists from Vietnam, Korea and China.
More than 3.5 million arrivals were reported for 2012 by the country’s Ministry of Tourism, with Vietnamese accounting for 21.3%, followed by South Korea and China, with 411,491 and 333,894, respectively.
Arrivals through Phnom Penh International Airport were up 11.1% for the year.
Chinese visitors are expected to play an increasingly important role in Cambodia’s tourism mix, with the government forecasting their numbers to grow to 500,000 by 2015 and 1 million by 2020.
Union Gaming Research Macau believes NagaWorld’s monopoly casino in the capital will draw an outsized share of the potential benefits.
The investment firm estimates that Vietnamese are generating 40% of the property’s mass-market gaming revenue and China about 10%.