Head to Cambodia!
Head to Cambodia!
When I was a child, one of my mother her favourite tracks was the one from Kim Wilde, singing a song about a Cambodia. I don't know whether this was really the thing that triggered me to go to Cambodia and to feel so terribly good about it, or that i'm just extremely into it's culture and nature.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=1y3TKv7Chk4
In this section, i'll talk about the touristic side of Cambodia.
Cambodia, officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is located in the south eastern part of Asia. Its neighbour countries are Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the northeast, Vietnam to the east and the Gulf of Thailand to the southwest.
We've all seen the tags and labels in our clothes telling us that they have been originally made in Cambodia. The textile industry is actually the biggest industry and greatest source of income in Cambodia. On the second place, we have the incomes arriving from the tourist industry.
Most visitors arriving between January and December came into the country through Siem Reap or through Phnom Penh. One of the most popular touristic areas in Cambodia are located in the south west, called "Sihanoukville". This is such a popular place thanks to its several beach resorts. The area around Kampot and Kep are also very popular amongst tourists due to their Bokor Hill Station.
So the three most well - known places to visit are The Angkor Wat historical park in Siem Reap (1), the beaches in Sihanoukville (2) and the capital city Phnom Penh (3).
Tourism in Cambodia has been increasing a lot since 1993, coming from 118 183 yearly international tourists and going to 2 161 577 international tourists in 2009. I'm sure this number has been increasing more ever since. The predictions a couple of years ago were that Cambodia will have three million foreign tourists in 2010 and over five million five years later, in 2015.
Most of the Cambodian tourists are Japanese, Filipinos, American, South Koreans and French people. They based part of this statement on the earnings and import of American dollars, accounting for almost ten percent Cambodia's national products.
Because of the increase in tourists visiting Cambodia, the quantity of souvenirs that are produced are not sufficient to face the increasing number of tourists and the enormous amount of products sold to the tourists on the markets. A lot of souvernirs are actually imported from China, Thailand and Vietnam. Some of the local produced souvenirs are:
- Ceramic craftings.
- Soap.
- Candles.
- Different kinds of spices.
- Krama (the traditional scarf).
- Painted bottles containing infused rice wine.
Charlotte.
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