The number of Cambodia's outbound travelers had increased by 27 percent to 455,020 in the first seven months of this year from 357,050 during the same period last year, showed the statistics of the Tourism Ministry on Sunday.
Ang Kim Eang, president of Cambodia Association of Travel Agents, said Sunday that most of the Cambodian visitors have travelled to ASEAN countries thanks to visa exemption agreements and direct flight connections.
Among ASEAN member states, they prefer to go to Vietnam, Thailand, Laos, Singapore and Malaysia, said Ang Kim Eang, who is also the president of the Great Angkor Tours.
"For Thailand, Vietnam and Laos, they can easily travel by bus," he said.
Besides traveling in the bloc, he said the people also travel to China including Hong Kong, Macau, Kunming, and Shanghai for leisure or business purposes.
"The rise of Cambodian outbound travelers is thanks to their improving cost of living," he said.
The Southeast Asian nation has the population of 14.5 million. By the end of 2011, Cambodian per capita GDP (Gross Domestic Product) was 911 U.S. dollars, according to a report of the finance ministry. However, there is a wide development gap between urban people and rural ones.