The number of international tourists visiting Vietnam, the sunny and warm Southeast Asian nation, for the second or third time has considerably increased since 2003.
According to a survey carried out by the General Statistics Office on 30,500 tourists in late 2003 and 34,000 tourists in November 2005 in 26 cities and provinces, the proportion of vacationers to Vietnam for the first times was highest with 65 per cent. The following were those visiting for the second time with 21 per cent and for the third time with 14 per cent.
Previously, independent sources revealed that the average number of returning foreigners is only 15 per cent. Arrivals from Asian and neighboring countries and territories returning to the communist nation posted the highest rate among 31 listed markets, the GSO reported.
Over the years, China, Cambodia, Taiwan, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore have remained the main customers of Vietnam’s tourism industry.
GSO also showed that of the total tourists to Vietnam, Asia registered the first position with 45 per cent. Followed by Europe with 33 per cent, America with 14 per cent, and Oceania with 8.2 per cent.
Notably, the duration of foreign vacationers stay was also longer than years ago. Most of the visitors wanted to stay at three-star hotels.
The reasons were allegedly attributed to the lower cost travelling, better services, and good safety promotion of the country, Vo Thi Thang, director of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) said.
In 2005, the communist country received around 3.34 million foreign tourists and 15 million domestic tourists, up 18.4 per cent and 7.6 per cent on-year respectively, earning revenue of VND30 trillion (US$1.91 billion), up 14 per cent against the year before.
The impressive indexes from the GSO have proved that Vietnam is becoming a more attractive destination for foreign tourists.
Recently, more than 1,300 Tripso.com readers have picked Vietnam as one of the top five destinations to travel to in 2006. The rank will help Vietnam lure more foreign tourists in the years to come, Thang said with pleasure. However, although the country is rich with potential boasting great beaches, low-cost shopping, and many unique villages and towns, suffers from a lack of exciting tourism products.
"We need to have more specific action plans to diversify our tourism products," Thang noted, revealing that there are a lots of things needing to be dealt with in the coming time.
In the year 2006, the country is expected to host many important tourism events such as the Central Heritage Road, Hung King Worshipping Festival and the APEC Summit, Thang said, hoping that these events along with lots of interesting festivals and fairs will bring more foreign tourists to the country.
Vietnam expects to welcome 3.6-3.8 million foreign tourists and 16.7 million domestic vacationers with total revenue of VND36 trillion (US$2.28 billion) in 2006.
VietnamNet
Vietnamese
