People use water guns to spray water at passing motorists during Cambodian New Year celebrations in Siem Reap province, on April 14, 2022. Photo: VCG

Cambodia's three-day traditional New Year, or Songkran festival, had come to an end with 4.59 million people traveling to various tourist attractions, Tourism Minister Thong Khon said on April 17. 

Khon said that of the total, there were 28,849 foreign tourists. 

"All tourist destinations had been opened and attracted crowds of tourists," he said in a report. "The number of tourists during the three-day New Year holiday this year is almost comparable to the pre-COVID-19 new year celebration in 2019, when 4.72 million tourists were recorded." 

Security, safety and public order had been ensured during the holiday, he said, adding that the cultural province of Siem Reap, the capital city Phnom Penh, and the coastal provinces of Preah Sihanouk, Kampot, and Kep were among the kingdom's most popular tourist destinations. 

"Confidence in the effectiveness of vaccines has allowed our people to travel to all tourist attractions across the country during the New Year holiday," Khon said. 

The Southeast Asian nation celebrated the Songkran festival from April 14 to April 16 after two years of cancelations due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen said on April 16 that Songkran festivities were organized at villages, pagodas, schools, public venues and tourist attractions across the country. 

"Thanks to the high rate of vaccinations and comprehensive peace that we have achieved over the past 24 years, our people can now travel everywhere," he said in a speech during the inauguration ceremony of a large couple statue in the southwestern Preah Sihanouk province. 

Cambodia has fully resumed its socio-economic activities and reopened its borders to fully vaccinated travelers without quarantine since last November after most of its population have been vaccinated against COVID-19.