By Xinhua
Phnom Penh : Kingdom Hotel Investments (KHI) in the Middle East has purchased the historic Raffles Hotel Le Royal in the Cambodian capital and Raffles Grand Hotel d'Angkor in Siem Reap for a total of $35 million, the media said Wednesday.
The two landmark hotels, built more than 70 years ago, will retain their names and continue to be managed by Raffles Hotels and Resorts, Beddy Suryana, the front office manager, was quoted by the Cambodia Daily as saying.
"Cambodia is an exciting new market for KHI. Demand for hotel accommodation in the region has grown significantly in recent years, and Cambodia has benefited from increasing tourism," Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal, who controls KHI, said in a statement.
Cambodia's tourism sector is among the fastest growing in the world with the number of tourists arriving over the last eight years growing at an average of 19 percent.