Vietnam, poor but orderly, is now tourists' safe haven
HANOI - A generation after a war that made its jungles and rice paddies famous as places of violence and death, Vietnam is now relying on its relative stability to draw security-conscious foreign tourists.
The Sept. 11 attacks, followed by bombings in Bali on Oct. 12, have contributed to a tourism boom in Vietnam that has packed upscale hotels and filled most international flights here.
Many tourists say, and tourism industry officials agree, that they were interested in coming anyway as Vietnam increasingly opens to the outside world.
But the tourists say that Vietnam's near absence of Muslims, who make up less than 1 percent of the population, as well as the country's controlled Communist society are reassuring at a time of travel warnings and attacks elsewhere.
As John and Melissa Ryan, clothing store owners from Berkeley, Calif., rode a puttering motorboat up a palm-lined river toward Hoi An in central Vietnam a few days ago, both said they had no worries about terrorism in Vietnam.
"It's Buddhist and Communist; I don't think the Communists would tolerate Muslim radicals at all," Mr. Ryan said, as the boat passed traditional fishermen in wood boats casting small, round fishing nets by hand into the muddy, slow-moving water.
In 2001, 8.9 percent more tourists entered Vietnam than in the previous year, even as the Sept. 11 attacks produced a sharp drop in travel to many other countries. The number of foreign tourists rose another 12 percent in the first 11 months of 2002, compared with the same period a year earlier.
Tourism here increased despite the fact that flights to Vietnam are sparse and expensive. Government-owned Vietnam Airlines has severely limited the number of international flights here by foreign carriers. The limited competition has kept ticket prices among the highest in Asia.
The tourism growth has been brisk enough to prompt the opening of new hotels, after years of problems for the country's tourism industry. Like many countries in Southeast Asia, Vietnam had built too many hotels in the boom of the mid-1990's, only to have some of them close during the region's financial crisis of 1997 and 1998.
Construction of the Sheraton Saigon Hotel and Towers and Executive Residences complex, in what is now called Ho Chi Minh City, was completed in early 1999, but the building was sealed up and left unfurnished. But at the end of 2001, the owners and the management company, Six Continents, which owns the Sheraton brand, decided to open the complex.
All but 3 of the 92 apartments have been rented, and a luxury store selling Versace, Bulgari and Armani fashions to tourists is being opened, said Sean Hunt, the general manager of the project. He said the 380-room hotel would open in May.
"Vietnam is continuing to grow in popularity because it's perceived to be a safe haven and a safe place to do business," Mr. Hunt said.
Vietnam has also preserved many old buildings, especially in cities like Hoi An and Hanoi, as anemic economic growth, at least until recently, has discouraged the demolition of historic neighborhoods to build skyscrapers. Parts of Hanoi still look very French, even though Vietnam's colonial rulers left nearly half a century ago.
Vietnam's continued poverty, especially compared with more affluent, capitalist countries in East Asia, has made it a bargain, aside from the air fare. Taxi rides can cost $1, while tailor-made suits sell for as little as $40, although the quality of the stitching is sometimes suspect.
While tourism in Vietnam is booming, the number of visitors to Bali has not fallen as much as the tourism industry there had feared.
Visits to Phuket Island, a Cancun-like resort area in a heavily Muslim area of southern Thailand, appear to have recovered as well.
Accor S.A., the largest hotel operator in East Asia with 200 hotels, suffered a drop of 15 to 20 percent from a year earlier in visits to its Bali hotels in December, said David Baffsky, the chairman of the company's Asian and Pacific operations.
But, he added, "The hotels in Bali were busier than a lot of people expected over Christmas and particularly over New Year's."
Some human rights groups have urged tourists not to visit Myanmar, the former Burma, to avoid providing financial support for the ruling military regime. There has been no comparable effort by human rights groups to discourage tourists from shifting their plans away from countries like Indonesia, which has its own history of human rights violations.
But some travelers are skipping Thailand and Indonesia on their own initiative after reports of security threats. In fact, some visitors to Vietnam are coming from places with their own security concerns.
John and Sheila Bernson are Americans who live and work in Beirut, Lebanon, which has become much quieter in recent years after a civil war and kidnappings in the 1980's.
The couple headed straight for Vietnam for their New Year's vacation this week.
"I wouldn't even consider Phuket," Sheila Bernson said.
By Keith Bradsher - The New York Times - January 04, 2003.
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