February 8, 2019
Coast sees drop in tourists during Chinese New Year
The number of visitors to the coast during the Chinese New Year holiday dropped considerably this year as more people chose destinations in the Northern provinces of Siem Reap and Ratanakkiri.

Taing Sochet Krisna, director of Preah Sihanouk’s tourism department, told Khmer Times that the number of tourists in his province declined during this year’s Lunar New Year. He said just 58,000 tourists chose Preah Sihanouk province for the holiday, a 34 percent decline.

Local tourists dropped by more than 42 percent, with only 45,500 visiting the province during the three-day celebration.

The numbers for Koh Kong province follow a similar pattern. According to the coastal province’s tourism department, only 29,494 tourists visited Koh Kong during the three days of the holiday, a decrease of about 46 percent compared to last year.

“The drop in tourists happened because the holiday falls on weekdays, which means tourist don’t have enough days to travel to more remote locations like Koh Kong, where they’d want to spend at least three days.

“In addition, there have been reports of air pollution in Thailand. Since Koh Kong borders Thailand, many tourists have been put off by this news,” a report from the provincial tourism department said.

Soy Sinol, director of Kampot’s tourism department, told Khmer Times that official figures for his province have not been released yet, but that he believes the number of tourists has decreased this year. He said during the first two days of the holiday Kampot received only 60,000 tourists, 2,000 of which were foreigners. He was unable to confirm if this was a drop compared to 2017.
In 2018, during the three days of the Lunar New Year, Kampot welcomed about 130,000 tourist arrivals.

Som Chenda, director of the provincial tourism department in Kep, was unable to share statistics for his province.

Ratanakkiri and Siem Reap provinces, on the other hand, saw more visitors during the holiday.

Ratanakkiri tourism department director Nget Pitou said more than 21,415 tourists visited the province during the holiday, an 8.2 percent increase. 20,835 of those tourists were Cambodian.
https://www.khmertimeskh.com/50576139/c ... -new-year/

There were probably more in the casinos than on the beaches!

Many foreign tourist like myself, are no longer going to Cambodia, due to the Chinese influx.

I have no intention of returning to Cambodia in the foreseeable future

IraHayes wrote: ↑Sat Feb 09, 2019 9:38 pm

I will bring Chinese into your country tomorrow. They will cover the face of the ground so that it cannot be seen. They will devour what little you have left after the hail, including every tree that is growing in your fields. They will fill your houses and those of all your officials and all the Cambodians—something neither your parents nor your ancestors have ever seen from the day they settled in this land till now.

And who wants to party amongst the locusts??
I think the numbers speak for themselves tbh

Where does the quote come from?

Eloquent yes, but eerily accurate.

Preah Sihanouk Province Receives Nearly 60,000 Visitors during Lunar New Year Day
AKP Phnom Penh, February 09, 2019 --

During the recent Lunar New Year celebration, some 58,000 local and foreign tourists visited Cambodia’s coastal province of Preah Sihanouk.

Basing on the record of Preah Sihanouk Provincial Department of Tourism, the figure suggested a fall of 34.09 percent compared to the number of tourists coming to the province last year.

The number of national visitors fell by 42.44 percent, while the number of international visitors dropped by 39.66 percent.

Preah Sihanouk International Airport served 49 flights with a total of 5,220 travellers during the New Year period, and of them 150 were locals and 5,070 were foreigners.
http://akp.gov.kh/post/detail/4189