About 3,135 tourism establishments in Cambodia have so far been either closed or suspended due to the impact of COVID-19 pandemic, affecting over 110,000 workers, according to a Ministry of Tourism on Wednesday.
The affected tourism establishments included hotels, guesthouses, restaurants, massage-spa parlors, karaoke clubs, nightclubs, beer gardens, and tour and travel operators, said a report provided to Xinhua on Wednesday.
"More than 110,000 workers, or about 15 percent to 20 percent of total labor force in tourism, have been terminated from their jobs," it said, adding that most of them worked in massage-spa parlors, karaoke clubs, nightclubs, and beer gardens.
According to the report, the kingdom attracted 1.18 million international visitors during the first six months of 2020, down 64.6 percent from 3.33 million over the same period last year.
The huge slump in the number of international arrivals to the kingdom was due to the COVID-19 pandemic that forced the country to impose entry restrictions for all foreign travelers since March.
Tourism Minister Thong Khon has predicted that Cambodia could lose about 3 billion U.S. dollars in tourism revenue in 2020 due to the remarkable drop in the number of international visitors.
"For 2020, due to the COVID-19 crisis, the number of foreign tourists to Cambodia can drop by 70 percent," he said.
Tourism is one of the four pillars supporting Cambodia's economy as the country attracted 6.6 million international visitors in 2019, earning gross revenue of 4.9 billion U.S. dollars which accounted for 13 percent of the country's GDP (gross domestic product).