Tour discounts expected to help stimulate tourism industry

      Local and foreign tourists to Vietnam will enjoy price discounts ranging from 30 to 50 percent of 99 tours around the country for two months, starting from August.
The discount programme, which was initiated by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, is part of the effort to attract more international tourists and promote local travel for the national tourism industry, which has seen deep plunges in the number of travellers since early this year.
Seven international travel agents, three transport companies, 61 hotels and 14 shops have registered to join the scheme, which is to focus on nearby markets, with China to be the first priority for the remaining months of 2009.
According to the General Statistics Office, international arrivals to Vietnam hit 2.17 million in the January July period, down 18.7 percent compared to the same period last year. The number of visitors by sea shrank by 57 percent, followed by declines of nearly 34 percent and 12.7 percent in the figures of land and air tourists.
The number of visitors from China experienced the biggest fall of over 37 percent, followed by the Republic of Korea, 23 percent; Taiwan, 17.5 percent and Japan, 11.7 percent.
Industry experts said Vietnam’s target of receiving 4.3 million international arrivals in 2009 is hard to be met given the challenges facing the world tourism industry.