Foreign arrivals up over 35 percent this year

Vietnam welcomed almost 1.8 million foreign arrivals in the first four months of the year, representing an increase of over 35 percent year-on-year. The General Statistics Office reported that Cambodia, China, the Republic of Korea, Taiwan and Australia remain the largest markets with respective increases of 130 percent, 106 percent, over 32 percent, 25 percent and over 22 percent.
In an attempt to attract international tourists, especially to the Thang Long-Hanoi millennium celebrations, the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) has actively joined in international tourism fairs and Vietnamese festivals abroad in addition to launching tourist promotion campaigns through worldwide TV channels and inviting foreign delegations to conduct market surveys.
The recently-launched promotion programme has targeted foreign tourists with a high spending capacity and likely to stay for a long period.
The hospitality industry is, however, facing a dire shortage of luxury 4-5 star hotels while services costs are high and tourist products are poor.
Vietnam has set itself the goal of attracting 4.2 million foreign arrivals in 2010.