Tourism Figures Top Annual Target

Although it set a target of attracting 4.2 million foreign visitors in 2010 the Vietnam tourism sector welcomed more than 4.2 million foreign visitors in the first 11 months of this year and is expected to receive about five million foreign visitors this year.
Of all foreign visitors coming to the country in the first 11 months of this year, almost 2.851 million arrived for traveling (up 42.3 percent from the first 11 months of 2009), 932,500 came for business purposes (up 39.3 percent), 520,200 came to visit relatives (up 10.7 percent), and 295,800 came for other purposes (up 31 percent). Foreign visitors are expected to bring more than US$4.6 billion in revenue for the tourism sector this year. The figure was only US$30.5 billion last year due to the global financial crisis and economic recession.
The number of foreign visitors to Vietnam has been increasing remarkably since early this year, with that in the lowest time growing more than 30 percent. The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) has assessed that Vietnamese tourism has recovered fast after the global financial crisis.
The CEI Asia Magazine of the Haymarket Media Group recently announced that Vietnam has been chosen as the number-one destination among the three new venues in the world for visitors in 2010.
The Vietnamese tourism sector's success is partially attributed to the global economy's recovery. In 2010, Vietnam succeeded in organizing many important cultural, political and social events such as the 1,000th Thang Long - Hanoi anniversary and the 2010 National Tourism Year. This year Vietnam also performs the 2010 ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) chairmanship. All of these are opportunities for Vietnam to introduce foreign partners and friends about Vietnamese tourist offerings.
Nguyen Van Tuan, the head of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT), said that Vietnam is expected to attract 5.5 million foreign visitors and serve 30-31 million domestic guests in 2011, with China, Japan, the Republic of Korea (RoK), West Europe and ASEAN planned to be further major markets of Vietnamese tourism businesses.
Next year, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism will be completing an overall plan for tourism development to 2020 and 2030 for submission to the Prime Minister for approval./.