| Daily news, 01 Dec 2008 |
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HANOI – A decline in the number of foreign arrivals in Vietnam during recent months due to the global financial crisis will seriously hinder the tourism industry in achieving its set target of five million foreign visitors this year.
According to a VNA report, the number of foreign visitors to Vietnam dropped alarmingly in June and this downtrend has continued since then.
By the end of October, the tourism sector had catered for a total of 3.6 million visitors during 2008, an increase of 3.5 percent year-on-year. Meanwhile, it had recorded a growth rate of more than 15 percent during the first half of the year.
Vietnam has recorded a sharp drop in the number of visitors from high-income countries, such as China, the Republic of Korea, Japan, the US and Canada.
As visitors from these markets account for 40 percent of the total number of foreign arrivals, the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT)’s travel department has referred to the current situation as “quite serious”.
“If this situation continues, it will be impossible for Vietnam to welcome five million foreign visitors, the target it has set for this year,” said VNAT deputy director Nguyen Manh Cuong.
Although the global financial crisis and economic recession are regarded the main culprits for the decline, there were additional factors behind drop in overseas visitors, including natural disasters, floods, weak infrastructure, and the low quality of guides and services provided by the hospitality sector, Cuong said. |
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