Vietnam hopes to attract more Chinese tourists
Vietnam has launched its biggest ever promotional campaign in China, its largest visitor market, in an attempt to reverse a downward trend in the tourism industry.
The Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) last month started a series of events that gathered many travel agencies across China.
Nguyen Van Tuan, director of VNAT, told Thoi bao Kinh te Saigon Online that the promotion campaign is the biggest ever organized in China.
“And we’re seeing a new wave of tourists coming to Vietnam.”
He said a lot of Chinese tourists will be visiting Ho Chi Minh City and popular beach towns Danang, Nha Trang and Phu Quoc.
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Nha Trang in central Vietnam will continue to be a top destination for Chinese travelers, Tuan said.
There are ten flights connecting Nha Trang with Chinese cities every days and more services will be launched, he said.
Last year, more than 1.9 million Chinese tourists made up for a quarter of Vietnam’s total foreign arrivals.
But the figure in the first ten months this year fell around 15%.
Local tourism authorities blamed it on tensions between the two countries, which peaked with China putting an oil rig in Vietnamese waters in May 2014 and triggering opposition across the country.
Tuan said the market has not fullly recovered yet, but it will next year.
The important thing is many Chinese will come by air or on cruise trips with deeper pockets, rather than simply crossing the border on budget trips, Tuan said.