Chinese travellers lead Vietnam growth

Chinese visitors continue to be Vietnam’s top foreign visitors, making up 53.5 percent of arrivals for the first seven months of this year.

Despite natural disasters and economic uncertainties, the General Statistics Office found that the Southeast Asian country welcomed up to 3.43 million foreigners from January to July, a 17.3 percent rise on the same period as last year, VietNam Net reported.

Travellers from South Korea and the US assisted with the increase in foreigners touching down, noting a rise in visitors of up to four percent and 2.5 percent.

Although visitation was up for the first seven months, the arrivals by sea and land decreased by up to 3.4 percent and 21.4 percent compared to the corresponding period last year.

Reasons for travelling into the country were lead by two reasons, sightseeing which made up 70 percent of tourists and visiting relatives which increased by 53.5 percent on last year.

Hoping to see a further rise in inbound arrivals, Vietnam National Administration of Tourism submitted a development strategy early this year.
According to general director Nguyen Van Tuan the plan aims to invest in tourism and develop competitive products in the region.

Source - etravelblackboardasia