International visitors top expenditure of regional tourists
International tourists have generated a bigger expenditure in the country over regional tourists, even though regional tourist arrivals were 92 percent higher last year. According to a newly released national statistics report from the Tourism Development Department under the Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism, the number of international tourist arrivals in the country reached over 396,000 people, generating revenue of over US$396 million, while regional tourist arrivals (Asia and Pacific) topped 3.5 million people generating only US$328 million in revenue, with the majority of regional tourists coming from neighbouring countries such as Thailand, Vietnam, China and Cambodia. Statistics also showed that revenue from international tourists was higher than regional tourists because their length of stay averaged over 7 days per person with an average daily spend of over US$76 per person.
