PHNOM PENH, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia received 1.31 million foreign visitors in 2020, down 80 percent from 6.6 million in the year before, Tourism Minister Thong Khon said on Wednesday.
The sharp decline was caused by the COVID-19 pandemic that forced the kingdom to impose entry restrictions for all foreign travelers since March last year, he said.
"To rehabilitate and promote the tourism industry in the post-COVID-19 era, the Ministry of Tourism has drafted a tourism roadmap for COVID-19 recovery," he said in a speech during an ecotourism forum in northwest Siem Reap province.
Ministry of Tourism secretary of state and spokesman Top Sopheak said that a tourism recovery mainly depends on COVID-19 vaccines.
Tourism is one of the four pillars supporting the economy. The kingdom got 6.6 million international visitors in 2019, earning gross revenue of 4.9 billion U.S. dollars. Enditem
