Vietnam, the sun warm Southeastern Asian nation, received more than 2.46 million international arrivals in the first seven months of 2007, up 16.2 per cent from 2006, according to General Statistics Office (GSO).
The rise was attributed to the government’s recent major policies to help the tourism sector. The organizations of many large festivals, international exhibitions and fairs in the country and abroad also helped attract visitors and promote the country’s image.
According to the GSO, the number of holidaymakers from Japan, South Korea, the US, Australia and Canada were stable in the last seven months while there were fewer visitors from China, Laos, Cambodia and Norway.
Despite the on-year decrease of 7.4 per cent, China still retained its position as largest tourism market of Vietnam with more than 320,000. The runners-up were South Korea with 295,900, up 25.2 per cent; the US with 259,580, up 8 per cent and Japan with 237,300, up 18.7 per cent, on year.
The drop was attributed to Chinese government restrictions to limit the number of its citizens crossing the border to patronize casinos.
Top hospitality markets of Vietnam with the strongest year-on-year growth were Italy (65.4 per cent), Russia (64.9 per cent) and Malaysia (61.8 per cent).
Once again, Vietnam saw on-year falls in four markets in the first seven months namely China, Cambodia, Laos, and Norway. Among the four, Norway dropped most with an on-year decrease of 19.1 per cent, followed by Laos, 17.7 per cent and Cambodia, 16 per cent.
Vietnam also witnessed growth in three groups of international arrivals during the reviewed time, including those flocking to the nation for doing businesses, visiting relatives, and for holidays.
Specifically, visitors coming to the communist country for holiday registered the highest rate, at 27.5 per cent. The followings were those arriving to the country for business, at 11.5 per cent and for visiting relatives, 2.2 per cent
The number of vacationers to the country for other purposes still fell 14.3 per cent on year.
In July alone, 343,000 foreign tourists visited the communist country, representing an annual rise of 2.4 per cent. China, South Korea, the US and Japan were also the biggest markets of the country in the month.
Room occupancy rates at major tourism areas reached over 80 per cent, even 100 per cent in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Nha Trang.
The hospitality sector of Vietnam brought the country VND28 trillion (US$1.75 billion) in revenue in the first half of this year, fulfilling 50 per cent of the full-year target.
Vietnam is looking to 4-4.4 million foreign visitors and 19-20 million domestic tourists with total revenue reaching VND56 trillion, or US$3.5 billion this year.
Currently, tourism sector contributes 8 per cent to Vietnam’s national GDP. (GSO Edition July, Investment)
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