Tourism was a US$1 billion industry in 2007 and the country is banking on the continued growth of the sector for several years to come. In fact, tourism has grown leaps and bounds since the Government began vigorously promoting the sector as a means of eating foreign exchange. ”Foreign exchange earnings from tourism were around US$ 1.4 billion in 2007,” Prime Minister Hun Sen said in January, adding that he expects tourism will continue to buoy the national economy over the long term and generate much-neded jobs for Cambodians. The sector continued to expand during the first quarter of 2008. Visitor arrivals to Cambodia jumped 14 percent in the first four months of 2008 to 818,108. Over half of the visitors traveled to Siem Reap and Angkor Wat while 370,613 tourists visited other destinations in the country, according to Tourism Cambodia. The open skies policy, which allows foreign companies to compete with local airlines, and the ease with which it is now possible to obtain a visa to enter Cambodia are both credited with helping to boost the country’s tourism sector. About 60 percent of visitors to Cambodia in 2007 were from Asia and 20 percent are from Europe. Koreans led the pack, accounting for 17 percent of all tourists, 8 percent were from Japan and 7 percent from the United States. In 2007, foreign visitors to Cambodia stayed an average of three or four days in the country and spent about US$ 770 per person. The number of visitors who arrived by plane increased 26 percent in 2007 compared to 2006/ Meanwhile, improvements to transportation infrastructure and Cambodia’s emerging middle class spurred domestic tourism. The number of Cambodians who traveled within the country increased from 787,112 in 2006 to 995,763 in 2007, boosting domestic tourism receipts, according to the Ministry of Tourism. The hotel industry is also enjoying rapid growth. By the end of 2007, the country boasted 381 hotels with 18,654 rooms and 826 guesthouses with 10,233 rooms. The travel agency sector is also becoming more competitive and as of the end of 2007, there were 382 travel agencies in Cambodia. In an effort to encourage tourists to venture beyond Angkor Wat, the Government is supporting the development of islands in the Gulf of Thailand. At least 61 islands are slated for development and the Government has agreed to leave five island in the Gulf of Thailand to local and foreign investors for US$627 million. ”The projects will become a magnet for tourism,” predicts Commerce Minister Cham Prasidh.