International tourists arrive in Vietnam, January

Of the foreign visitors, 231,500 were tourists, 65,000 visits were work-related, and 55,000 came for family reunions, the agency reports.
The number of Chinese visitors dropped by 12.1 per cent to 60,700, of the Japanese by 1.5 per cent to 34,700, and of those from the United States by 18.1 per cent to 33,400.
However, the number of visitors from France, Singapore and Malaysia registered increases of 51.1 per cent, 26.6 per cent and 23.2 per cent respectively.
The Viet Nam National Administration of Tourism has blamed the decrease in arrivals on the global economic crisis, which has prompted people to save on traveling expenses.
The agency expects the slowdown to continue at least until September 2009.
The tourism industry has launched a promotional campaign entitled "An Tuong Viet Nam" (Viet Nam Impressions) under which prices of tour packages will be cut by between 30 and 50 per cent.
The scheme will accord priority to exploiting the domestic and ASEAN markets as well as other key markets like Northeast Asia, Western Europe and Australia.
In related news, the number of travelers visiting HCM City for the Tet (Lunar New Year) holidays increased by 15-20 per cent over last year, according to domestic tourist companies. The Saigon tourist Company, in particular, says it served 5,000 tourists during the festive season.