Foreign tourist arrivals fall 17.7 percent this year

Foreign arrivals to Vietnam fell 17.7 percent to 2.48 million in the first eight months of 2009, with the number of tourists from key markets dropping by up to 35 percent, tourism authorities said Monday.
Arrivals in August alone reached 314,915, down 8 percent from a year ago, but up 16 percent over July, the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism said in a report on its website.
There were declines in arrivals from all key markets in the first eight months but the pace slowed down in August, the administration said. The number of tourists from China dropped the most, 35 percent, while arrivals from South Korea, Thailand, Taiwan, Australia and Japan fell between 11.4 percent and 21.6 percent compared to the eight-month period last year.
Vu The Binh, head of the administration’s Travel Department, said in August that tourism officials should lower the annual target of 4.2 million foreign visitors to 3.7-3.8 million as the global economic slowdown has taken a toll on the tourism sector.