PHNOM PENH, June 18 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia's Preah Vihear temple, a World Heritage site, received 4,710 foreign tourists in the first five months of this year, up 39 percent compared with the same period last year, statistics by Preah Vihear province's tourism department showed Tuesday.
Kong Vibol, chief of the department, said the increase was owing to good security and convenient road transportation.
He said the temple would become the country's second largest tourism destination in the future, next only to the World Heritage Angkor Wat temple.
The 11th century Preah Vihear temple sits on the top of a 525- meter cliff in the Dangrek Mountains bordering Thailand.
The temple has become a flashpoint of armed clashes between Cambodian and Thai troops since July 2008, when the UNESCO listed the temple as a World Heritage site.
Thailand claimed the ownership of a 4.6-square-kilometer scrub next to the temple.
Cambodia brought the case of the disputed land to the World Court in April 2011, and the court is expected to issue a decision as to whether Cambodia or Thailand will own the disputed land by the end of this year.