Themed “One Billion Tourists, One Billion Opportunities”, this year´s World Tourism Day is an opportunity to celebrate the transformative potential of one billion tourists.

In his message sent to countries all round the world, Secretary-General of the UN World Tourism Organisation Talef Rifai wrote that more than one billion tourists travel to an international destination every year, thus making tourism a leading economic sector that contributes 10 percent of global GDP and 6 percent of the world´s total export.

VNAT Director General Nguyen Van Tuan affirmed that Vietnam ’s tourism sector has enjoyed strong development and proved to be an important economic sector of the country.

The number of foreign tourists to the country increased from over 5 million in 2010 to approximately 8 million in 2014. During the period, the number of domestic holidaymakers also surged, from 28 million to 38 million.

Last year, tourism revenues accounted for 6 percent of the nation’s GDP, up significantly from 3.26 percent in 2000. As many as 1.97 million Vietnamese people directly or indirectly work in the sector, making up 3.8 percent of the country’s total workforce.