VN to welcome 18 million foreign guests

VGP – The tourism sector is upbeat about fulfilling the preset goals of handling 17.5-18 million foreign arrivals and earning VND 700 trillion (US$ 30.1 billion) in the rest of 2019, the Viet Nam National Administration of Tourism reported.

September 16, 2019 2:40 PM GMT+7

The Administration said t hat it successfully organized Vietnamese tourism promotion programs in Kanagawa prefecture, Tokyo, Hokkaido prefecture and Vietnamese festivals in Kanagawam and Hokkaido prefectures in Japan.

Japan was one of the key markets of Viet Nam. Last year, nearly 830,000 Japanese guests visited Viet Nam, up 3.6% against 2017.

In the January-August period, Viet Nam welcomed over 620,000 Japanese guests, representing a year-on-year growth of 14%. Japanese guests like to explore traditional culture, cultural heritages, gastronomy, handicraft, natural landscapes and historic relics in Viet Nam.

The Vietnamese tourism sector will attend China-ASEAN travel expo scheduled in Guilin in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region from October 18 to 20.

The travel promotion activities targeted to maintain and raise the number of foreign arrivals from China, the RoK, Japan, and Europe to fulfill the preset goal in 2019.

Specifically, in 2019, Viet Nam plans to welcome 17.5-18 million foreign guests; serve for 85 million domestic guests; earn VND 700 trillion turnover. In the rest of the year which is the peak time for tourism, the tourism sector was optimistic to achieve the preset goals.

The Administration also reported that Viet Nam’s tourism competitiveness improved dramatically in 2019, according to a report of the World Economic Forum (WEF). Viet Nam ranked 63rd among 140 countries and territories, jumping up four places compared to the latest 2017 version. Viet Nam saw a significant increase in comparison with her regional peers including Thailand (up 3 steps); Cambodia (up 3 steps); Indonesia (up 2 steps), Singapore (down 4 steps), Malaysia (down 3 steps), and Laos (down 3 steps).

In the Southeast Asian region, Viet Nam was positioned at the second place in cultural resources and business travel; third in natural resources.

The WEF assessed that Viet Nam’s international openness went up 15 notches to 58th thanks to its improved requirements for visa./.

By Kim Anh