Vietnam twinkles in foreign visitors

Vietnam’s tourism industry is witnessing its golden age.
Vietnam is emerging as one of the top tourism spots for visitors from Thailand, Australia, Japan and Singapore for their next vacations, according to a recent tourism survey conducted by Visa, a global payments technology company, and the Pacific Asia Travel Association.
The Asia-Pacific Travel Intentions Survey 2010 included 6,714 respondents from 13 countries and territories. It said that among future inbound tourists who were most likely to visit Vietnam in the next two years, 17 per cent were from Thailand, 16 per cent were from Australia and 11 per cent were from Japan and Singapore.
These countries are Vietnam’s key tourism markets, according to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism’s (MCST) Vietnam National Administration of Tourism.
According to Vietnam’s General Statistics Office, Vietnam received over 4.6 million foreign tourists during this year’s first 11 months, up 36.5 per cent against the same period last year.
Tourists from Thailand to Vietnam augmented by 42.6 per cent, Australia 31 per cent, Japan 22 per cent, China 76.7 per cent and South Korea 38 per cent against 2009’s corresponding period.
Foreign visitors most likely to visit Vietnam in the next two years ranked natural scenery, new places and affordability as their top attractions. They are also likely to be single and preferred to stay at four-star hotels compared with other types of accommodation. They would budget more than $1,200 for their next vacation and pay more for good food and the opportunity to experience new cultures, according to the survey.
“The survey can partly help tourism companies devise their future tourism plans, and help local authorities continue turning Vietnam into a more attractive tourism destination,” said Do Thi Hong Thoa, director of the Hanoi-based Viet Traditions-Travel Services Joint Stock Company.
Truong Minh Ha, Visa’s country manager in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, said that with tourism emerging as one of Vietnam’s key economic drivers, the survey showed where visitors to Vietnam were coming from, their plans and what motivated them.
“This information is very useful for the Vietnamese tourism industry to help identify opportunities and create promotional activities based on their preferences and to attract more tourists,” Ha said.
MCST Minister Hoang Tuan Anh recently reported that in 2010 Vietnam would be visited by over five million foreign tourists, and the number of local tourists would be over 28 million. The industry expects total revenue this year would be over VND85 trillion ($4.47 billion).
This means that the number of foreign tourists to Vietnam will augment by 76 per cent against last year. Meanwhile, the World Tourism Organization forecast that world tourism would grow by only 5-10 per cent this year.