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

Year :      [2006]      [2005]      [2004]      [2003]      [2002]      [2001]      [2000]      [1999]      [1998]      [1997]

Foreign visits on the fall

Despite the increase over the same period of last year, the number of foreign tourists coming to Vietnam was in a decreasing trend in the first half of this year according to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT). In particular, the number of Chinese tourists reduced dramatically. Statistics show in the January – June period, Vietnam received 1.85 million foreign visits and around 8 million domestic visits, earning VND 18,000 billion, fulfilling the year’s target by about 50%.

According to Mr. Vu The Binh, Director of the VNAT’s Travel Department, the top 10 markets sending tourists to Vietnam in the reviewed period were China, South Korea, the US, Japan, Taiwan, Cambodia, Australia, France, Thailand and Singapore. 70% of 1.85 million foreign tourists travelling Vietnam in the first half of this year went by air, 24% by road, and 6% by sea. The number of overseas Vietnamese visiting their homeland and visitors from ASEAN countries is rising. However, the number of foreign tourists had reduced month on month, from 350,000 in January to 274,000 in June. Chinese tourism arrivals, which account for 18% of foreign visits to Vietnam, fell from 69,000 to 46,000 during the reviewed period.

The forecast by the International Tourism Organization says the number of international visits will grow 4% - 6% this year, reaching 800 million – 900 million tourists. Countries in the region have set up a series of programs in order to attract tourists. They annually spend billions of dollars on tourism promotion activities. Meanwhile, tourism promotion budget of Vietnam was just $1 million last year.

Nhan Dan - July 14, 2006.