Int'l arrivals in Vietnam up by 21 pc
International arrivals in Vietnam increased 21 per cent in 2004 despite a bird flu epidemic that killed at least 20 people in the communist country, the tourism authority said Friday. Vietnam welcomed around 2.9 million people compared to 2.4 million in 2003, with visitors from China, Japan, South Korea, the United States and France accounting for the most arrivals. Visitors from Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand increased significantly over the past 12 months, an official from the Vietnam National Tourism Administration (VNAT) said.
"Despite bird flu we have seen a rise in the number of arrivals because of our visa-free entry agreements with a number of countries," she said, adding that the target for 2005 was 3.2 million people. Vietnam had set itself a target of attracting 2.8 million international visitors in 2004, following a disappointing drop in 2003 because of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) crisis.
To achieve this target, the government negotiated visa-waiver agreements with Japan and South Korea, as well as fellow Association of Southeast Asian Nation members Laos, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.
VNAT said the number of domestic tourists in 2004 had increased 7.6 per cent to 14 million, helping the tourism sector earn an estimated revenue of 26,000 billion dong (1.65 billion dollars), an 18 per cent year-on-year increase.
Agence France Presse - January 01, 2005
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