More than 99,400 tourists arrived in Cambodia last month, up 30.38 percent compared to the same month last year, according to the figures obtained from the Ministry of Tourism on Monday.

Almost half of the visitors were from Asia and Oceania, followed by Europe. And the visitors from China were 4,636, a 60.19 percent increase over the same month last year.

Siem Reap province, home to the world famous temples of Angkor Wat, received 64,174 visitors, while the capital Phnom Penh and other destinations received 35,251 during the month, up by 32.30 percent and 27.04 percent respectively over the same period last year.

However, the Minister of Tourism Veng Sereyvuth said last week that the tourist arrivals may decline by about 10 percent this month due to the outbreak of bird flu in the region, although there were no confirmed human victims in Cambodia so far.

The number of tourist arrivals in Cambodia in 2003 dropped nearly 11 percent compared to the previous year due to the Iraq war and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS).

Tourism is one of Cambodia's two main foreign currency earner behind the garment industry.

The Cambodian government has urged its tourist authorities to take measures to attract more Chinese tourists in the new year which it maintains an enormous market with great potential.

(Xinhua News Agency February 23, 2004)