Hard-line Chinese policies on cross-border travel limit are quickly decreasing the number of Chinese visitors to Vietnam, negatively affecting the tourism development of the sunny Southeast Asian nation, Vietnamese tourism authority said.
According to Pham Tu, deputy Head of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT), only 46,000 Chinese travelers came to Vietnam this June, a decline of 30 per cent year on year.
China has been the country’s largest tourism market, accounting for 25 per cent of the total number of foreign visitors entering Vietnam.
However, from early 2006, Chinese tourist numbers fell by an average of 2,000 per month. The main reason, according to Mr Tu, is that the Chinese government has imposed restrictions on its citizens exiting via land borders. These restrictions have affected the tourism industries in countries that border China.
Few Chinese tourists travel to Vietnam by air, due to the small number of flights connecting major airports such as Shanghai, Guangzhou to Vietnam. Vietnam also has no consular representation in those cities.
The reduction is therefore having a marked effect on revenue generated by the tourism sector.
Mr Tu said that the VNAT will work with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to try to sway the Chinese government from its current hard-line policies. In addition, airlines need to establish more direct flights to major air transport hubs in China.
Notably, the Government of Vietnam has agreed in principle to ease travel rules for Chinese tourists holding visas, allowing them to take local flights rather than limiting their in-country travel to road and railway only, the Vietnam Administration of Tourism (VAT) announced.
Vietnam facilitated travel for around 1.85 million foreign visitors and 8 million domestic tourists in the first half of 2006. Of the total foreign tourists, 70 percent traveled by air, 24 percent by road and 6 percent by sea.
The number of tourists from China topped the list of foreigners to Vietnam, followed by those from the Republic of Korea, the US, Japan, Taiwan, Cambodia, Australia, France, Thailand and Singapore, the official added.
The tourism industry targets 3.6-3.8 million foreign visitors and 16.7 million domestic visitors in 2006 and up to 5.5-6 million and 25 million, with the sector's revenue making up 6.5 percent of the nation's gross domestic products (GDP) by 2010.
VietNamNet
Vietnamese
