THE success story of Vietnam’s tourism sector continues with arrivals to the end of July up 17.3 per cent on the same period last year.
In fact the number of visitors has grown each month in 2011 so far, with May recording an impressive 37 per cent increase on the same month in 2010.
And if the trend continues the country looks set to outdo last year’s total of just over five million visitors, which was a jump of almost 35 per cent on 2009.
Of those arriving in 2011 so far, just over two million were travelling for tourism, 570,000 were on business and around 100,000 came to visit relatives or for other purposes.
The largest inbound market was China with almost 786,000 travellers, up more than 53 per cent on last year, followed by Cambodia, South Korea, the US and Japan.
The Vietnamese government has said it is taking the promotion of tourism seriously with its potential to create jobs and develop the economy.
Nguyen Van Tuan, general director of the Vietnam Administration of Tourism, told the country’s VOV that a state steering committee for tourism has been set up which is headed by the deputy prime minister.
And a draft strategy for tourism development has also recently been delivered to the prime minister which clearly recognises the need for training and investment in the sector.
Tuan said: 'Over the next 10 years we will continue to train human resources to develop tourism as an economic spearhead which will have a positive impact on other economic sectors. It is necessary to develop both domestic and international tourism and fully tap the potential of human resources and the environment.'
He added that the tourism sector has highlighted various areas for action including training, investment, product and brand development and a need for extensive promotion.