Welcome ceremony was held for foreign tourists arriving in Ha Long City on the first day of 2018 (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam expectsto welcome its 15 millionth foreign visitor of 2018 in Ha Long City, thenorthern coastal province of Quang Ninh, in late November or early December.
The information was released at theMinistry of Culture, Sports and Tourism’s regular press conference for thethird quarter of this year, which was held in Hanoi on October 16.
Nguyen Van Tuan, General Director of theVietnam National Administration of Tourism, praised dynamic tourism promotionactivities this year, noting that they have reached a number of new markets.
According to Tuan, the country has counted 11.7million foreign arrivals to date. At the current pace, the figure would reach about15.7 to 15.8 million by year’s end. Vietnam aims to serve between 15 and 16million foreign tourists in 2018.
Currently, 52 international airlines haveentered the Vietnamese market, and air travellers account for 84.4 percent oftotal foreigners to Vietnam.
The National Tourism Administrationreported that the rate of second-time visitors reached 40.4 percent last year,and average daily spending by foreign visitors from most markets increased.Spending by visitors from the Republic of Korea rose from 133.4 USD to 171.5USD a day, while that of Chinese visitors went up from 118.6 USD to 130.1 USDper day.
Cheap tours, which offer low prices butencourage tourists to use more shopping, food and entertainment services at thedestinations, was a hot topic at the press conference.
Concerning the issue, Tuan said themanagement of low-cost tours should meet the market demand, control theirquality as well as protect tourists’ interests and the image of destinations.
He said tighter monitoring and strictfines, including revoking operation licences of violated businesses and tourguides, should be applied.-VNA
VNA
