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Vietnam greets 1.4 million foreign tourists in January
Phuong Thao 16:32, 2018/01/30
Tourist sector has seen positive signs right at the first month of this year as it received 1.43 million foreign visitors in January, up 42% against the same period last year.
According to the General Statistics Office, the number also rose 12.1% month-on-month.
Arrivals from European Union, America and Australia reported the highest growth as the regions were on the winter holiday and overseas Vietnamese living in the regions returned hometown for the Southeast Asian country’s biggest holiday of Tet (Lunar New Year).
 
Vietnam this year targeted to receive 15-17 million international tourists
Vietnam this year targeted to receive 15-17 million international tourists
January also saw tourists from Asian countries to Vietnam surge sharply by 53.9% year-on-year to 1 million, of which China rose 69%, South Korea with 84%, Taiwan with 22.9% and Malaysia with 35.5%.
According to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourist (VNAT), right at the first month of the year, the tourist sector actively implemented many tourist promotion programs to lure visitors such as participating in the region’s biggest tourism event of ASEAN Tourism Forum 2018 in Thailand and organizing a ‘Vietnamese night’ to introduce and promote the country’s image, people and tourism. 
Vietnam this year targeted to receive 15-17 million international tourists and serve 78 million domestic visitors, earning total revenue of VND620 trillion (US$27.31 billion).
VNAT said that the tourism sector will take drastic and synchronous measures in 2018 to reach the targets. Accordingly, tourism promotion in both international and domestic markets will be strengthened next year. Besides, the tourism sector will also focus on turning Vietnam into a safe and friendly destination while creating clear changes in improving the quality of services and tourism.
The General Statistics Office reported that Vietnam received a record high of 12.9 million foreign visitors in 2017, a year-on-year increase of 29.1 per cent. The tourist sector also served 73 million domestic travelers. Total revenue from tourism activities last year reached over VND510 trillion (US$22.4 billion).
Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam said that the strong results of the tourism industry last year contributed to the growth of the service sector and promoted the development of other sectors.
The position of Vietnam’s tourism industry also increased on the world market. Vietnam ranked sixth in the 10 tourism destinations with the fastest development in the world in 2017, he said.
Dam said the strong growth in 2017 was partly due to positive changes in the VNAT’s tourism promotion activities. Enterprises participated in international trade fairs on tourism and implemented online tourism promotion activities, including via social networking sites.
Nguyen Van Tuan, VNAT General Director, said that the pilot implementation of electronic visas for citizens of 40 countries into Vietnam in early 2017 and visa exemption for citizens of five Western European countries were considered to increase the competitiveness in attracting foreign visitors.
According to international travel companies, thanks to the visa exemption policy, the number of European tourists to Vietnam grew rapidly at an average of 20 -30 per cent per country, especially from the UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain.
Tuan said the expansion of the visa exemption policy has been adopted by many countries. Countries that are competitive with Vietnamese tourism have a very open visa policy.
International tourists to Vietnam were also attracted by simplified entry procedures, shortening the time of licensing.
Dam said the transport infrastructure and tourism environment have been improved although not as much as expected. Many modern and high-class tourism projects have been put into operation, improving the quality of tourism products.
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