Phnom Penh, Oct 14 (IANS): Cambodia has attracted 1.22 million foreign visitors during the first eight months of 2020, down 72 per cent from 4.36 million over the same period last year, said the latest report released by the Ministry of Tourism on Wednesday.

China, Thailand and Vietnam were the largest sources of foreign travellers to Cambodia during the January-August period this year, the report said.

It added that some 292,303 Chinese, 182,501 Thais and 180,095 Vietnamese came to the kingdom during the first eight months of this year, down 83 per cent, 22 per cent and 68 per cent, respectively compared to the same period last year, Xinhua news agency reported.

In August, Cambodia received only 23,028 foreign visitors, a 95.5-per cent decline from 519,502 over the same month last year, the report said.

The remarkable drop was due to the Covid-19 pandemic and entry restrictions imposed for all foreign travellers since March.

Tourism Minister Thong Khon projected that the Southeast Asian country could lose approximately 3 billion US dollars in tourism revenue this year due to the slump in international tourist arrivals.

Tourism is one of the four pillars supporting Cambodia's economy, and the country attracted 6.6 million international visitors in 2019, earning a total revenue of 4.9 billion US dollars.