SIHANOUKVILLE: The Secretary of State of the Ministry of Tourism led a delegation to welcome the first commercial flight from China arriving at the Sihanoukville Airport on Friday, 27 January 2023.

A flight from Ruili Airlines carrying a total of 104 passengers landed in Sihanoukville on Friday. The Secretary of State for the Ministry of Tourism, Hor Sarun, along with the Permanent Secretary of State of the Secretariat of Civil Aviation, Chea Oun, the Deputy Governor of Sihanoukville, Mang Sineth, as well as the President of the Qatar Association, Chhay Sivlin, were all present at the airport to welcome the first batch of Chinese tourists.

Secretary of State Hor Sarun said that this direct welcome was made to show that the Royal Government is paying attention to the arrival of Chinese tourists as China has just reopened its borders after living Covid-19 restrictions.

He said he applauded China for allowing all Chinese people to soon resume flights to all countries around the world, following the first step of only allowing flights to a selective 20 countries, which includes Cambodia.

The Ministry of Tourism has said that the resumption of regular flights acts as a bridge connecting a flow of tourists from China to Cambodia, especially to Sihanoukville, which is the star of Cambodia’s southwest.

Previously, during the groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of the bridge across the Mekong River in Kratie province on the morning of 2 January 2023, Prime Minister Hun Sen announced that he welcomes the arrival of Chinese tourists to Cambodia again after the country finally reopened its borders. The Prime Minister expressed hope that this will help to strengthen Cambodia's economic growth.

Back in 2019, before the Covid-19 outbreak began, Cambodia received a total of more than 6 million tourists, who were mostly Chinese nationals.