Visitors to Ban Gioc Waterfall in Cao Bang province (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – About 13 million foreigners choseVietnam as their holiday destination in 2017, which is considered a record ofthe tourism sector and marked a year-on-year rise of nearly 3 million in thenumber of foreign visitors for the first time.
Meanwhile, the sector served 73.2 milliondomestic tourists. It earned 510.9 trillion VND (22.5 billion USD) fromvisitors this year, according to statistics unveiled at a meeting of the Statesteering committee for tourism in Hanoi on December 26.
Local tourism accommodation has been developed,surpassing 25,000 establishments with more than 500,000 rooms. There are now116 five-star hotels with over 33,000 rooms, 259 four-star hotels, and 488three-star hotels nationwide.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism(MCST) reported that the tourism sector successfully fulfilled the target of30-percent rise in the number of foreign visitors.
While promotion activities have been enhancedand reformed, the sector has also attracted much social investment in tourism,especially the high-end segment. Many localities have made efforts to attractinvestment in tourism and develop tourism products.
Vietnam has also won a number of tourism awardsand titles in 2017, which helped promote the country’s image during integrationinto the world, the ministry noted.
The MCST also admitted certain shortcomings inthe industry, including limited services at some tourism areas, low competitiveness,a shortage of strong tourism brand names, and flaws in ensuring security andsafety for tourists at some places of interest.
Speaking at the meeting, Deputy Prime MinisterVu Duc Dam, head of the State steering committee for tourism, applauded the 30-percentincrease in the foreign tourist number, noting that more attention should bepaid to quality.
He asked the tourism sector to improve products,accommodation facilities, manpower, as well as museum and theme parks, whiledevising appropriate strategies and plans. It must successfully carry out theplan on restructuring the tourism sector so as to develop tourism into aspearhead economic industry.-VNA
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