Angkor Archaeological Park in Cambodia Photo: IC

Cambodia's famed Angkor Archaeological Park received 5,329 foreign visitors in the first six months of 2021, down 98.6 percent from 387,840 over the same period in 2020, the state's Angkor Enterprise said in a press release on Thursday.

The site made a gross revenue of $219,218 from ticket sales during the January-June period of 2021, also down over the same period in 2020, the release said.

In June alone, the park got 555 foreigners earning $22,010 from ticket sales, it said.

The huge slump in foreign travelers to the site was due to the COVID-19 pandemic that forced the country to suspend tourist visas to all foreign citizens since March 2020.

"We hope Cambodia will open its door to fully vaccinated foreign tourists in the fourth quarter of 2021," Ministry of Tourism secretary of state and spokesman Top Sopheak told the Xinhua News Agency.

Located in northwest Siem Reap Province, the Angkor Archaeological Park, inscribed on the World Heritage List of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in 1992, is the kingdom's most popular tourist destination.