According to the General Department of Tourism, Vietnam’s tourism sector is expected to receive about 4.3 million international arrivals this year, finishing the target for the whole year.
Although there is a decrease in the number of Chinese arrivals, the number of tourists from other countries and territories with higher spending capacity has sharply increased, bringing higher revenues for the tourism sector.
Vietnam is becoming an attractive tourism destination for international tourists, according to the General Department of Tourism. In the first eleven months this year, Vietnam received four million international arrivals. On December 6, the ceremony to welcome the four millionth international tourist was formally held at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi.
According to Head of the Travelling Agency under the General Department of Tourism, Vu The Binh, welcoming fourth million international arrivals to Vietnam marks an opportunity for Vietnam’s tourism sector to look back on achievements and prepare to hasten development and international integration in the coming time.
In which, Vietnam will focus on simplifying procedures and attracting travellers by road with caravan tourism and high capacity motorbikes. Visas for tourists entering by sea will be exempted. Vietnam will build tourism products of trans-regional and trans-national features, and speed up training tourist guides.
In addition, Vietnam will build specific plan to attract investment in hotels and luxury accommodation in the long term to meet the demand of increasing numbers of tourists.
Currently, 11 countries and territories with more than 100,000 arrivals have visited Vietnam. Chinese visitors still lead, followed by South Korea, the U.S, Japan, Taiwan (China), Australia, France, Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia and Singapore. The increase in international arrivals to Vietnam has helped bring high tourism revenues: tourism revenues reached US$2.3 billion in 2005, US$2.85 billion in 2006 and an estimated US$3.5 billion this year. Foreign direct investment capital in the tourism sector is estimated at US$4.5 billion.
In this context and with continued exploration and development, the country’s tourism sector expects further stable and high growth.
Giang Tu
Vietnamese
