As well as a surge in the number of Americans visiting Vietnam, the number of arrivals from Australia, France and Canada was also up, compared to the corresponding period last year, with increases ranging from 12-30%.

However, the General Statistics Office revealed that the total number of foreign visitors to Vietnam during the reviewed period was just under 689,000, a year-on-year decrease of more than 10%.

Of the total of foreign arrivals, 403,000 were for tourism and convalescence purposes, approximately 108,000 visitors touched down to conduct business, with the remainder visiting their families.

The number of visitors from China, the Republic of Korea, Japan and Taiwan, although high, decreased during the past two months.

The situation for the future is forecast to be gloomy due to the long-term effects of the global financial crisis.

The tourism sector has adopted a series of bold measures to achieve this year’s goals of welcoming 25 million tourists, including 4.3 million foreigners, and earning VND 65,000 billion (US$ 3.8 billion).

Currently, the nation’s hotels, airlines and travel agencies are offering discounts of between 30-50%. To capitalise on this, and to attract a greater number of foreign tourists, a series of tourism promotion campaigns and festivals are to be organised, both at home and abroad.

VietNamNet/ND