Vietnam webcomes over 1,8 million foreigners in first quarter

 Vietnam greeted more than 587,000 foreign tourists in March 2013, a 1.6 percent rise from the same month last year. This figure brought the total number of foreign tourists to the country so far this year to more than 1.8 million, a year-on-year reduction of 6.2 percent, according to the General Statistics Office.

 GSO’s statistics showed in the first quarter, among traditional markets of Vietnam’s tourism, only seven markets saw rises in the number of tourists. They were Russia (50.8 percent), Indonesia (21.1 percent), Thailand (20 percent), New Zealand (15.4 percent), the Republic of Korea (8.7 percent), Australia (4.7 percent) and China (0.7 percent). The remaining 22 tourist markets witnessed sharp decreases. This reflected the persistent impact from the economic crisis on the tourism industry. Over the past three months, the number of tourists visiting Vietnam by air reached nearly 1.5 million, a year-on-year decrease of 8.2 percent, while those by road and sea also declined, at 0.3 percent and 6.4 percent, respectively, compared to the same period last year. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has issued a tourism stimulus programme with the focus on attracting more foreign tourists through promotion campaigns on the spot and awareness raising in localities nationwide.