Promotion increases int’l arrivals to Vietnam

Vietnam had by the end of October welcomed 4.142 million foreign arrivals thanks to promotion strategies launched in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang city.
The country had a target of 4.2 million foreign tourists for the whole year.
Deputy Director of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) Nguyen Manh Cuong attributed the result to a promotion campaign jointly held by VNAT and the Trade Promotion Agency under the Ministry of Industry and Trade.
The "Impressive Viet Nam Grand Sale 2010", launched to ignite tourism in August and September, included activities to increase consumption of both local and foreign tourists, organise promotional outlets, enhance production of consumer goods and souvenirs and increase average expenditure of tourist shopping.
This was the first time the programme had been held in the capital city of Hanoi and the central city of Da Nang , and the sixth time the scheme was organised in HCM City .
More than 100 businesses, supermarkets and shops in Ha Noi launched sales promotion programmes, while in Da Nang , 29 trade and travel agencies, restaurants, hotels and shopping centres were involved in the promotion programme, including 10 to 50 percent discounts for travel and services.
The scale of the programme was much bigger in HCM City than Hanoi , with the participation of 600 enterprises and 2,300 promotional outlets.
However, foreign visitors’ shopping accounts for only 20 percent of their total expenditure, while in Thailand the rate is about 60-70 percent, according to VNTA statistics.