27 The popularity of Cambodia as a tourism destination is sustained by competitive pricing of package tours; tropical setting and low cost of labor. Perceived as a more affordable choice to neighboring Thailand and Vietnam, Cambodia has sought to diversify its tourism product by developing other leisure resorts besides excursion to historic and religious sites such as the Angkor temples near Siem Reap, the riverside town of Battambang; Bokor Hill Station or the capital city Phnom Penh. As a result, hotel occupancy rates in Cam-bodia have been rising continually. TOURISM ARRIVALS The table below exposes the evolution in tourism arrivals, average length of stay, hotel occupancy and tourism receipts as compiled by the Cambodian Ministry of Tourism of the past two decades (1993-2013). TABLE №10. INTERNATIONAL TOURIST ARRIVALS, AVERAGE LENGTH OF STAY, HOTELS OCCUPANCY &TOURISM RECEIPTS 1995 - 2013 Source: Cambodia Ministry of Tourism, 2015 Years Int'l Tourist Arrivals Average Length Hotels Occupancy Tourism Receipts Number Change (%) of Stay (Days) (%) (Million US $) 1995 219,680 24.4 8.00 37.00 100 1996 260,489 18.6 7.50 40.00 118 1997 218,843 -16.0 6.40 30.00 103 1998 286,524 30.9 5.20 40.00 166 1999 367,743 28.3 5.50 44.00 190 2000 466,365 26.8 5.50 45.00 228 2001 604,919 29.7 5.50 48.00 304 2002 786,524 30.0 5.80 50.00 379 2003 701,014 -10.9 5.50 50.00 347 2004 1,055,202 50.5 6.30 52.00 578 2005 1,421,615 34.7 6.30 52.00 832 2006 1,700,041 19.6 6.50 54.79 1,049 2007 2,015,128 18.5 6.50 54.79 1,400 2008 2,125,465 5.5 6.65 62.68 1,595 2009 2,161,577 1.7 6.45 63.57 1,561 2010 2,508,289 16.0 6.45 65.74 1,786 2011 2,881,862 14.9 6.50 66.15 1,912 2012 3,584,307 24.4 6.30 68.49 2,210 2013 4,210,165 17.5 6.75 69.53 2,547 FIGURE №4. HOTEL OCCUPANCY RATES
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