3:57:05 PM | 4/12/2006
Hanoi, the second biggest city of Vietnam welcomed around 80,000 foreign visitors in November, posting a decrease of 7 per cent against the same period last year.
The main reason for the drop was that Hanoi limited the arrival visas granted for the city during the APEC Summit.
Besides, almost all hotels and travel agents in the city cancelled and denied international tourist group orders, explaining that they were so busy with the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Meetings scheduled for October and November.
The fall off in Chinese visitors also contributed to the decrease. Unofficial sources attributed the consecutive drop in the influx of Chinese tourists in recent months to China’s policies on limiting cross-border travel to curb the number of Chinese people gambling in Vietnam, and a regulation to stop granting entry-exit visas for 14 countries sharing borders with China.
Despite the lower percentage of international holidaymakers, Hanoi saw an increase in tourism sector revenue during the month at VND2 trillion (US$125 million), an official from the municipal department of tourism said, attributing the rise to the higher expense of visitors to the city during the APEC Meetings.
Currently, Hanoi boasts 34 hotels ranked 3-5 stars, which meet only 70 per cent of demands of international tourists during this "hot" tourism season, according to Cao Thi Ngoc Lan, deputy director of the municipal tourism department.
The city targets to greet 5.7 million tourists in 2006, including 1.2 million foreign visitors, up 22 per cent on-year.
P.V
Vietnamese
