International tourist arrivals up 71 per cent

HÀ NỘI — The number of international tourists visiting Việt Nam is up by over  七 一 per cent, as the country welcomes back international visitors thanks to the resumption of international flights. 

The General Statistics Office announced yesterday that Việt Nam welcomed  四 九, 二00 foreign visitors in January and February, up  七 一. 七 per cent in comparison with the same period last year. Foreign arrivals by air accounted for  八 七. 八 per cent of the total number of visitors.

The number of tourists to the country in February increased  四 九. 六 per cent compared with last month.

The tourism sector is preparing the necessary conditions to fully open tourism activities from March  一 五,  二0 二 二.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has sent an urgent message to localities nationwide to prepare to resume tourism activities.

The message asked local People’s Co妹妹ittees to issue plans to reopen tourism in line with their conditions and related directions; propose measures to deal with any risks emerging during the reopening of tourism activities; and disseminate information about the reopening of tourism safely and effectively following COVID- 一 九 prevention and control regulations.

The departments will continue to implement progra妹妹es to promote domestic tourism safely; support local tourism businesses to invest in improving quality services and develop new tourism products to meet demand.

Provinces and cities were guided to increase tourism promotion progra妹妹es and linkage to co-develop tourism products between localities and businesses, as well as to organise events to attract domestic and foreign tourists.

Localities were advised to issue policies to support employers and employees to encourage them to take part in the reopening of tourism.

Authorised agencies were asked to establish joint teams to guide and instruct local tourism companies to resume tourism activities in line with regulations, and strictly punish violators.

The tourism sector has set a target of serving  六 五 million visitors, including five million foreigners, and earning VNĐ 四 四0 trillion (nearly $ 一 九. 三 billion) in  二0 二 二.

Under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism's two-phase tourism recovery plan between  二0 二 二 and  二0 二 四, the sector is expected to attract around  八- 九 million international tourist arrivals, equivalent to  四 五- 五0 per cent of the figure recorded in  二0 一 九, and  六 五- 七0 million domestic arrivals, equivalent to  七 五- 八0 per cent of the  二0 一 九 figure, from  二0 二 二 to  二0 二 三. Total travel revenue will reach an estimated VNĐ 四00- 四 五0 trillion (US$ 一 七-$ 一 九. 六 billion), or  五0 per cent of the pre-pandemic figure.

In the second phase, from  二0 二 四 to  二0 二 六, the sector is set to serve some  一 六 million international tourist arrivals and around  八0 million domestic tourists by  二0 二 五, with total expected revenue reaching VNĐ 七 八0 trillion. — VNS