Stampede accident not to affect tourism industry
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The Cambodian government said Thursday that the large casualties in human lives resulted from a stampede accident during water festival will not affect the country's tourism industry.
Phay Siphan, spokesman of the Office of the Council of Ministers, said tourism industry will not be affected by this accident.
He said it was just an accident and that had nothing related to terrorism, security or safety of foreign tourists.
Phay Siphan said foreign tourists are safe to travel to Cambodia at all time and they can enjoy cultural, and eco-tourism in the country, especially the visit to Angkor Wat temples complex, one of the world's attractive destinations.
He added that Cambodia is a peaceful country without having had any natural disasters like earthquakes, volcanoes, or tsunami.
In the stampede accident occurred on Monday night, the last day of the three-day water festival held in Phnom Penh, 347 Cambodians died and 395 others were injured.
The stampede occurred at a small bridge linking to Koh Pich Island, and thousands of people were on this bridge when the accident took place.
Cambodia is promoting tourism industry because it is one of the largest income earners for the nation.
Cambodia is proud to see her tourism industry has gradually improved from year to year and this sector contributes "10 percent to GDP".
Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen has announced that his government has set tourism as one of the priority sectors for his country's rectangular strategy for development, saying it is considered as "green gold" which is helping alleviate the good living standard of the people, especially, those who are living in the touristic sites.
Statistic provided by Ministry of Tourism said in seven months this year, 1.4 million foreign tourists visited the country.
The number showed a significant increase of 13.85 percent compared to the same period in 2009.
It is expected that Cambodia will receive around 2.4 million tourist arrivals in 2010, an increase of approximately 12 percent.
