Nearly 800,000 Cambodians travel abroad last year, up 12 pct

The number of Cambodia's outbound travelers had increased by 12 percent to almost 800,000 last year, according to the statistics of the tourism ministry on Thursday.

Ang Kim Eang, president of Cambodia Association of Travel Agents, said most of Cambodian travelers visited ASEAN countries thanks to visa exemption agreements and easiness in traveling by land or air.

"Among ASEAN, they prefer to go to Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia for leisure, business or medical treatment," he said.

Outside the bloc, they also like going to China including Hong Kong, Macau, Kunming, and Shanghai thanks to flight connections.

He 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 2012, Cambodian per capita GDP (Gross Domestic Product) was nearly 1,000 U.S. dollars, according to the government's report.

Sourced: Xinhua