~ Le Viêt Nam, aujourd'hui. ~
The Vietnam News

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Vietnam tourism sector sets sights on China, Japan

HANOI - Japanese and Chinese tourists will be the prime targets of promotion schemes run by Vietnam Airlines and the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) this year. Co-operation between VNAT and the airline, which started earlier last year, has proved successful despite the slump in the world tourism market brought on by the US terrorists attacks.

The two sectors recently met to discuss the progress of their co-operation programme and to work out new plans for 2002. According to VNAT, tour packages organised through the programme are bringing increased profits for Vietnam Airlines as flight tickets account for 60 to 70 per cent of package prices. This year, 11 advertising campaigns promoting Vietnamas the friendliest and safest tourist destination will be run by the two partners in Japan and China, with the first one due to take place in Osaka, Japan at the end of this month. In addition, pictures of Vietnam's most attractive tourist sites will appear in underground stations in Tokyo throughout this year.

The two bodies will also hold regular tourism fairs in Japan and China to promote the country's culture, crafts, fashion and food. Last year, the number of Japanese visitors to Vietnamincreased to 175,000 from the previous year's 135,000. Nearly 80 per cent of the Japanese visitors were tourists, with only 15 per cent coming for business and 5 per cent for other purposes. The number of visitors from China totalled over 600,000, a year on year increase of 20 per cent.

The increase was attributed to the opening of direct flights linking Hanoi with Beijing and Kunming. More direct flights linking Hanoi and HCM City with Tokyo will be launched in the middle of the year, while a direct service between HCM City and Shanghai will start operating in November. "Of course, the programme doesn't mean we will neglect other popular markets such as France, Australia and North America," VNAT sources said. Last year, the number of visitors from France to Vietnamincreased 16.8 per cent, while those from Australia increased 28.4 per cent compared with the previous year.

Vietnam News Agency - January 08, 2002.