Int’l Tourist Arrivals to Vietnam Down 16% in First Quarter

Vietnam is estimated to have welcomed 992,000 foreign tourists in the first quarter of this year, down 16 per cent from a year earlier, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO).

 

In March, the country received roughly 300,000 foreigners, down around 11 per cent on-year, GSO said.

 

Between January and March, the number of arrivals from Vietnam’s traditional markets such as China, South Korea, Japan and Taiwan sharply dropped 11 per cent-25 per cent on-year. The nation witnessed increases in only three markets of the U.S., Australia and Canada at about 5-17 per cent.

 

The situation is attributed to the global financial downturn and economic recession and the ineffective cooperation among domestic tourism businesses in implementing tourism stimulus packages, travel firms said.

 

The prime minister has agreed to spend VND25 billion (US$1.4 million) on tourism promotion this year, and part of that sum will be spent on advertising Vietnam’s image on BBC World and taxis in the U.K, said Nguyen Van Tinh, head of the International Cooperation Department.

 

Tinh added that the advertisement will be carried out on BBC World with 320 spots. It is expected that each spot will last 30 seconds. There will be eight weeks of broadcasting in Asia Pacific, six weeks in Europe, and six weeks in America. (GSO, VietnamNet)