Foreign tourists flock to Vietnam for a traditional Tet

It is estimated that over 416,000 foreign visitors came to Vietnam in January, a 20.4 percent increase from a year earlier and a 10 percent increase compared to December 2009, reported the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT).
There was an increase in the numbers of foreigners from various countries, including Australia (26.3 percent up), Canada (24.3 percent), the Republic of Korea (21.1 percent), the US (9.2 percent) and Japan (3 percent). In particular, Chinese visitors provided a year-on-year increase of 94 percent, reaching 59,000.
During this month, many foreign sea liners have selected Vietnam as their destination, including Voyages of Discovery with 900 tourists on board, the Spirit of Discovery with 800 visitors and the five-star Costa Classica with 2,000.
At Tan Son Nhat International Airport, numbers of foreign visitors and overseas Vietnamese returning home for Tet is expected to jump by 10-15 percent.
With thousands of foreign visitors flocking to Vietnam during the Lunar New Year festival, the VNAT hopes to welcome between 4.5-4.6 million international arrivals in 2010, up 18-21 percent compared to last year.