Tourism sector records robust growth in Q1
VGP – The tourism industry fulfilled almost all important goals in the first three months in spite of numerous difficulties, said Ha Van Sieu, Deputy Director General of the Viet Nam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT).
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In the reviewed time, over 2.4 million foreign visitors arrived in Viet Nam, up 19.9% against the same period last year. Meanwhile, the number of domestic guests reached 18.7 million. The tourism industry pocketed over VND 109 trillion (US$ 5.2 billion) in revenue, representing a year-on-year growth of 21.2%.
The Northeast Asian market expanded at the sharpest pace, of which China grew 66%; the Republic of Korea 30%; Hong Kong 160%; Taiwan 15%, and Japan 12%.
The European market was also on the rise. The number of travellers from five countries with visa exemption in Viet Nam surged highly, including Italy (up 28%); Spain (up 27%); the UK (up 23%); Germany (up 19%), and France (up 11%).
In Q1, the tourism sector conducted and joined various promotion events such as the Travex 2016 in the Philippines, the ITB Berlinin Germany, the Moscow International Exhibition Travel & Tourism (MITT) in Russia, the tourism introduction program in the Czech Republic.
In the first quarter, the VNAT presented a proposal on tourism development to the Government on visa exemption for tourists who book tours of international agents, an establishment of a tourism development fund, a draft strategy on tourism brand name development, and a strategy on building Vietnamese tourism products by 2020 with a vision towards 2030.
The General Department also promoted tourism development plans for different regions, national tourism parks, localities; prepared for the 2016 Tourism Year in Phu Quoc; and other events in post 2020.
In Q2, the tourism sector will focus on building the Tourism Law (amended), and participate in foreign tourism fairs namely TTM plus in Thailand, ITB Asia in Singapore, GES in India, WTM in the UK./.
By Khanh Phuong
