International arrivals show signs of rebound

Vietnam welcomed 416,000 foreign visitors this month, up 20.4 percent from the same period of 2009, signaling a rebound of the inbound tourism sector which posted a double-digit fall in international arrivals last year.
International visitors arriving in Vietnam by air reached 224,000 visitors and about 67,000 entered the country via land road, Vietnam News Agency reported.
The number of tourists from Australia, Canada, South Korea, the U.S. and Japan to the country also saw a surge of up to 26.3 percent compared to December last year.
Chinese arrivals to Vietnam reported an impressive rebound with 59,000 Chinese travelers visiting the country this month, a year-on-year increase of 94 percent.
The industry insiders attributed the recent surge in the number of Chinese tourists to the country to local tourism bodies’ efforts in promoting Vietnam’s tourism in the East Asia nation.
Chinese travelers are only required to US$10 for a laissez-passer to enter Vietnam and board domestic flights across 63 provinces and cities of the country.
The Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) earlier this month announced it would launch a promotion package on Chinese television network to attract more tourist arrivals from the East Asia market.
Under the program, a 15-minute documentary and a 30-second adverting clip on Vietnam’s tourism will be broadcast on China’s national television channel and other channels from Chinese provinces of Sichuan, Chongqing and Hubei later this year.
VNAT will also organize a series of tourism promotion programs at the International Tourism Bourse Berlin 2010 to take place this March in Germany, a three-day event in Thailand’s Bangkok and a two-day event in Malaysia and Singapore between February 28 and March 6.
Vietnam’s inbound tourism sector was not immune to the global economic downturn last year. The country recorded a plunge of 11 percent in foreign visitors to 3.8 million last year.
But the decline was offset by an increase of 19 percent in domestic travelers thanks to lower tour prices enabled by the national tourism stimulus program, “Impressive Vietnam.”
VNAT forecast Vietnam would welcome 4.5 to 4.6 million foreign tourists in 2010, up 18 to 21 percent from last year and higher than the figure 4.25 million of 2008.
It also expected to receive 28 million Vietnamese travelers this year, up 12 percent from 2009.