Of this, 552,098 were made up of foreign tourists, a year-on-year increase of 20 percent. Visitors from China increased 32 percent in comparison with the same period last year; Australia , 28 percent and Japan , 14 percent.

Thanks to significantly increased visitor numbers, hotel capacity reached 60.62 percent, a year-on-year increase of 3.56 percent.

Hanoi aims to welcome 13.25 million visitors in total, including 1.75 million foreign tourists, during the year.

The city has also set a target of welcoming 16 million visitors, including 2 million foreign tourists, by 2015.

Bui Dinh Binh, deputy director of Saigontourist Hanoi, said that in order to help the capital welcome 2 million foreign visitors by 2015, the city should focus o­n several key markets including Eastern Europe, its high income citizens having always had a strong traditional relationship with Hanoi.

The deputy director of Vietnam Tourism Investment in Hanoi , Le Nhan Vinh, said that the Hanoi People's Committee should develop preferential policies in order to encourage enterprises to promote the city's tourism image in the Eastern Europe market, establishing a legal operations framework for tourism companies between now and 2030.

The director of the Hanoi Daissy Tourism Company, Tran Thu Ha, said that her company is currently aiming at luring foreign visitors from the US , emphasising that the capital's transport system be improved.

"Tourism companies should co-operate better in order to serve customers more efficiently," she added.

Truong Minh Tien, deputy director of the Hanoi Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, conceded that, due to the lack of a tourism plan, tourism has faced many difficulties in attracting investment.

In order to welcome 1.75 million visitors this year and 2 million by 2015, Tien emphasised the importance of a National Programme of Action and a tourism promotion campaign, set to run from 2011-15 coupled with two annual events including an international tourism fair and a Hanoi cuisine festival.

He added that several tourism programmes, including developing ancient and handicraft villages as well as community tourism, are key factors in fulfilling targets.

During a recent meeting between the Hanoi People's Committee and the city's Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Nguyen Thi Bich Ngoc, vice chairwoman of the Hanoi People's Committee, said that a master tourism plan will play a critical role in helping the capital's tourism become a key economic industry.

She confirmed that such a master plan should be compiled based o­n the city's cultural and historical potential and strengths, adding that the tourism sector also develop a network for ecological tourism andtransport.