Tourism sector eyes nearly US$10 billion in revenue

VGP – Viet Nam’s tourism sector expects to handle 7.2 million foreign arrivals and 35 million local visitors, bringing the total revenue to around US$9.5 billion, official said.

January 05, 2013 5:41 PM GMT+7

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Last year, the country welcomed 6.847 million foreign visitors, an increase of 11%, said Ms. Hoang Thi Diep, Deputy General Director of the Viet Nam National Administration of Tourism in a press conference on Saturday.

The number of local visitors expanded 8% to 32.5 million in 2012, sending the sector’s whole-year revenue to about US$8 billion, up 23% against 2011.

Statistics showed that 4.17 million guests came to Viet Nam for tourism and convalescence purposes, posting a year-on-year increase of 7.3%. Up to 1.16 million others arrived in the country for business (up 16.2% against last year) and 1.15 million for visiting relatives (up 14.3%).

The General Statistics Office recently reported that 5.576 million people traveled by air; 285,500 others at sea; and 986,200 on road.

The foreigners mainly came from China with 1.428 million (up 0.8%); the Republic of Korea 700,900 (up 30.7%); Japan 576,400 (up 19.7%) and the US 443,800 (up 0.9%).

An increasing number of tourists flocked to tourist attractions in the central region, Ms Diep noted./.

By Hai Minh