Cambodia localities see decline in seaside tourism Cambodia’s coastal provinces of Koh Kong and Kampot faced a sharp decline in the number of foreign tourists during the first quarter of 2014 compared to the same period last year. President of the Cambodian Association of Travel Agents, Ang Kim Eang, explained that the drop resulted from poor road conditions along with a lack of air or sea travel options for tourists. According to the Koh Kong’s Department of Tourism, the province received more than 28,000 foreign arrivals in the first three months of 2014, a year-on-year drop of 18 percent. There were only around 300,000 tourists to Kampot over the past three months, down 15 percent against the corresponding period last year. Meanwhile, the number of tourists visiting other coastal provinces of Sihanoukville and Kep saw a year-on-year increase of 20 percent. The positive surge was attributed to reliable air and road transport options available to travelers and Sihanoukville and Kep’s efforts in upgrading tourism facilities and boosting tourism promotion activities. Tourism, one of Cambodia’s spearhead economic sectors, has seen an annual stable growth of 15-20 percent over recent years, making great contributions to the country’s GDP growth. Last year, Cambodia received 4.2 million foreign arrivals, earning 2.6 billion USD.-VNA