Foreign arrivals to Vietnam drop by 25 percent in October

The number of international visitors to Vietnam in October reached some 228,000, a decrease of 25 percent over last month, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO).

Specifically, the number of visitors coming to Vietnam by air and sea, at 158,000 and 3,000, respectively, dropped compared to the same period last year. Only the number of those who travel by land increased, by 72.2 percent.

The total number of international visitors to Vietnam in the first ten months of this year is more than three million people, declining by 16.3 percent compared to the same period last year. The number of visitors coming from the Republic of Korea saw the biggest decrease, of over 24 percent, followed by China, Thailand and Taiwan with decreases of 23.6 percent, 18.8 percent and 16.5 percent, respectively.

The decline was attributed to the global economic crisis and the impact of the A/H1N1 flu.

The Vietnam National Administration of Tourism said that the target of receiving 3.7-3.8 million foreign tourists this year can be fulfilled thanks to a policy to exempt entry visa charges for tourists to Vietnam through the end of the year and the third Asian Indoor Games, which will be held for the first time in Vietnam .

The administration has taken various stimulus measures and organised tourism promotions inside the country and abroad to attract more tourists as well as investment in the tourism sector. Additionally, the government has issued a regulation on building and implementing a national tourism promotion programme for the 2009-2010 period.

The tourism sector has proposed that foreign embassies in the country help promote Vietnam’s National Tourism Year through their information networks, and that also, members of the Asian Network of Major Cities 21 and the Council for the Promotion of Tourism in Asia (CPTA) advertise the year of Vietnam Tourism in major Asian cities.

The National Tourism Year and the image of Thang Long-Hanoi broadcast in and outside the country are expected to bring a large number of foreign tourists to Vietnam in the coming time.

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