Cambodia's outbound travelers up 37% in Q1

The number of Cambodia's outbound tourists had seen a remarkable rise of 37 percent to 188,270 in the first three months of 2012 from merely 137,320 in the same period in a year ago, according to the statistics of the Tourism Ministry on Sunday. Ang Kim Eang, president of Cambodia Association of Travel Agents, said Sunday that most Cambodian visitors ASEAN countries thanks to visa exemption agreements and geographical proximity and some visited China including Hong Kong, Macau, Kunming, and Shanghai. Among ASEAN states, Cambodians always go to Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia and Laos, said Ang Kim Eng, who is also the chairman of Great Angkor Tour. "For China, I observe that since the start of this year, more and more Cambodians have headed to China for leisure or business trips thanks to more direct flight connection and very close ties between the governments of Cambodia and China," he told Xinhua. He also attributed the rise of Cambodian outbound travelers to improving cost of living of Cambodian people. Cambodia has the population of 14.5 million. By the end of 2011, Cambodian per capita GDP (Gross Domestic Product) was 909 U.S. dollars, according to the government report. However, there is a wider income gap between the rich and the poor.