Cambodia tourism: arrivals down 16.9%

Cambodia’s tourism story just got weird in an important way. The country took in fewer foreign visitors in 2025, but made more money from them anyway. That is the headline from the Ministry of Tourism’s latest annual indicators, released on May 8. Basically, the old post-pandemic pattern flipped. ### What changed? Cambodia says it welcomed 5.57 million international tourists in 2025 and earned about $3.8 billion in tourism receipts. That was a 16.9% drop in foreign arrivals from 2024, but a 6.6% rise in revenue. A year earlier, the country logged 6.70 million arrivals and about $3.64 billion in receipts. ### Why is that surprising? Because Cambodia had been dealing with the reverse mismatch for a while. Visitor counts were recovering strongly after the pandemic, but spending was lagging. In 2024, arrivals had climbed above the 2019 pre-Covid level, yet receipts were still well below the 2019 peak of $4.92 billion. That told you the average visitor mix had changed — more people coming, but not spending like the old peak years. (b2b-asianews.com) ### So what does this new split suggest? It suggests Cambodia got fewer but more valuable trips in 2025. The simplest way to see it is receipts per visitor. Using the official annual totals, 2024 worked out to roughly $543 per visitor, while 2025 comes out near $682. That is a big jump. It does not automatically mean every tourist spent more on hotels and temples, but it does mean the overall basket of visitors was richer, stayed differently, or spent more per trip. (nis.gov.kh) ### What had been dragging spending before? The big issue was composition. Cambodia’s recovery leaned heavily on nearby ASEAN visitors while the higher-spending Chinese segment came back more slowly. That mattered because tourism receipts depend on who arrives, how long they stay, how they travel, and what they buy — not just the raw headcount at the border. Cambodia’s own recent tourism reports showed strong 2024 arrivals growth, while outside assessments kept flagging weak receipts relative to that rebound. (b2b-asianews.com) ### Does this mean the sector is fully healthy again? Not quite. Revenue is up, but the country is still below the old 2019 receipts record. The 2025 total of about $3.8 billion is better than 2024’s $3.64 billion, yet still far short of 2019’s $4.92 billion. So this is progress, but not a full reset to the pre-pandemic high-water mark. ### What does it mean on the ground? (nis.gov.kh) For businesses, this is a mixed signal. Fewer arrivals can still hurt operators that depend on volume — budget hotels, bus routes, mass-market restaurants, souvenir stalls. But higher receipts are good news for tax intake, premium hotels, airlines, and destinations that benefit from longer stays or higher-end travelers. Cambodia also says it entered 2025 with a large tourism base already in place, including 95,588 accommodation rooms and 2,301 restaurants. (b2b-asianews.com) ### Could the 2025 number be a data quirk? Maybe partly — and that is the catch. The official 2025 monthly reports available earlier in the year were still showing growth through late 2025, so this annual figure looks like either a revised full-year series or a different official cut of the data. The ministry’s May 8, 2026 annual indicators are the newest official snapshot, so that is the number to use for now. (b2b-asianews.com) ### Bottom line? Cambodia’s tourism sector did not simply shrink in 2025. It re-priced. Fewer visitors came, but the country captured more money from the ones who did — and that is a much more interesting signal than the arrival drop alone. (nagacorp.com)