Cambodia welcomed 5.17 million international visitors in the first 11 months of 2025, a year‑on‑year decline of 13.8 per cent, according to figures released by the Ministry of Tourism.

 

Neighbouring Vietnam remained the largest source of arrivals, with 1.11 million visitors, though numbers fell by 7.3 per cent. Thailand followed with 1.01 million travellers, a sharp drop of 47 per cent. By contrast, Chinese tourism surged, with 1.1 million arrivals—an increase of 43.5 per cent compared with the same period last year.

 

Thong Mengdavid, deputy director at the China‑ASEAN Studies Centre in Phnom Penh, said the overall decline reflected regional economic slowdowns and growing competition from nearby destinations. He added that the figures also highlight “lingering challenges in air connectivity and destination diversification.”

 

Tourism is one of Cambodia’s four economic pillars, alongside garment and footwear exports, agriculture, and construction. The sector has long been a driver of growth, with attractions such as Angkor Wat drawing millions of visitors annually.

 

The latest figures suggest that while Cambodia continues to attract strong interest from China, it faces mounting pressure to diversify its markets and improve infrastructure to sustain growth.

 

 

-2025-12-26

about 100,000 of those are thai's that could not cross the border to gamble , since none have gotten in since July

On 12/26/2025 at 11:11 AM, zzzzz said:

about 100,000 of those are thai's that could not cross the border to gamble , since none have gotten in since July

 

Very much so. The casinos in Poipetand Trang are now no-go areas for Thai gamblers. However, there are still thousands of other foreign gamblers and visitors entering Cambodia via land border crossings and flights from surrounding countries, including China.

Cambodia has the Angkor Wat complex, which is world-class, but beyond that there really isn’t a huge amount that pulls tourists in large numbers.

 

Kampot and Kep are pleasant enough, but they’re hardly major international draws.

 

Sihanoukville has been badly damaged by overdevelopment driven largely by Chinese investment, much of it now unfinished or abandoned, which has left Phnom Penh as the main alternative stop.

 

The reality is that after Siem Reap, many visitors struggle to find enough to justify a longer stay. Infrastructure is still weak, travel between destinations isn’t particularly convenient, and the country can feel quite “done” once you’ve ticked off the temples.

 

So while some people blame regional instability and global conflict for the drop in tourism, it’s not the only reason. A lot of the decline is simply because Cambodia hasn’t developed enough varied, appealing destinations or tourist-friendly infrastructure to keep people coming back once they’ve done Angkor Wat.

4 hours ago, Burma Bill said:

 

Very much so. The casinos in Poipetand Trang are now no-go areas for Thai gamblers. However, there are still thousands of other foreign gamblers and visitors entering Cambodia via land border crossings and flights from surrounding countries, including China.

there are NO FOREIGNERS entering Cambodia by land from Thailand
form Laos and vietnam only
But this does help the dozens and dozens of casinos on the thai /Cambodian border
 

I hope the Cambodians are blaming their own genocidal, serial killing, thieving, land grabbing, drug dealing, human trafficking, scam center super freak Sen family, for this entire mess.

15 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

I hope the Cambodians are blaming their own genocidal, serial killing, thieving, land grabbing, drug dealing, human trafficking, scam center super freak Sen family, for this entire mess.

nope,
there all blaming Thailand 

On 12/27/2025 at 4:08 PM, Scouse123 said:

Cambodia has the Angkor Wat complex, which is world-class, but beyond that there really isn’t a huge amount that pulls tourists in large numbers.

 

Kampot and Kep are pleasant enough, but they’re hardly major international draws.

 

Sihanoukville has been badly damaged by overdevelopment driven largely by Chinese investment, much of it now unfinished or abandoned, which has left Phnom Penh as the main alternative stop.

 

The reality is that after Siem Reap, many visitors struggle to find enough to justify a longer stay. Infrastructure is still weak, travel between destinations isn’t particularly convenient, and the country can feel quite “done” once you’ve ticked off the temples.

 

So while some people blame regional instability and global conflict for the drop in tourism, it’s not the only reason. A lot of the decline is simply because Cambodia hasn’t developed enough varied, appealing destinations or tourist-friendly infrastructure to keep people coming back once they’ve done Angkor Wat.

 

I think you've described the situation perfectly. Hard to see significant diversification happening in anything other than a very long-term timeframe.