Cambodia's Preah Vihear heritage site receives less visitors in first nine months

PHNOM PENH, Oct. 9 (Xinhua) -- The number of tourists visiting Cambodia's Preah Vihear Temple, a world heritage site, has declined by 30 percent in the first nine months of the year, tourism data showed Wednesday.

The figures provided by Preah Vihear provincial tourism department said a total of 54,000 domestic and foreign tourists have viewed the 11th century temple during the January-September period this year, down 30 percent from 77,450 visitors over the same period last year.

Of the figure, domestic tourists to the temple went down by 36 percent to 45,900, while foreign visitors to the site increased by 54 percent to 8,100.

You Sovan, deputy chief of the Preah Vihear provincial department, said the Mekong River and flash floods, which have been hitting the country since August and have killed at least 83 people so far, were blamed for the drop in local tourists to the temple.

"However, we have seen a sharp rise in foreigners to the temple thanks to the country's political stability, the temple's world heritage status and the calmness of military confrontation between Cambodian and Thai troops over disputed land near the temple," he said Wednesday.

Preah Vihear, a Hindu temple, is located on the top of a 525- meter cliff in the Dangrek Mountains, bordering Thailand.

The temple had been a flashpoint of armed clashes between Cambodian and Thai troops since July 2008, when the UNESCO listed it as a world heritage site, but Thailand claimed the ownership of 4.6 square kilometers of land next to the temple.

Cambodia brought the case of the disputed land to the World Court in April 2011 and the court is expected to issue a decision whether Cambodia or Thailand will own the land by the end of this year.

Sourced: TravelDailyNews