Hue was speaking at a group meeting of the ongoing fourth session of the 14th National Assembly.According to Hue, the number of international visitors to Vietnam in the first nine months this year rises by roughly 1 million per month on an average and it has increased by 30 per cent in the past few months. He forecasts that the rise will be higher in the remaining months of the year when the country hosts the APEC meeting and also due to major holidays such as New Year.
The growth of the tourism industry, which is higher than that of the construction industry, is very notable as it can fully offset the reduction in the mining industry, he noted.
“It is better to increase the number of foreign tourists by 1 million rather than raising the exploitation of 1 million tons of crude oil as the first creates green and clean growth,” he emphasized.
Nguyen Ngoc Thien, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, recently urged the tourism sector to make efforts in the last months of the year to meet the target of receiving at least 13 million foreign tourists in 2017 — up 30 per cent year-on-year.
"The tourism sector has received the special attention of the Party, the Government and the whole society so that we need to do our utmost to meet the targets assigned by the government, contributing to the overall growth of the nation," Thien said.
According to experts, the tourism sector needs to further improve to contribute more to the country’s growth as its potential is very huge.
Northern mountainous Lao Cai Province’s Sa Pa is an attractive destination for foreign tourists.
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The country also boasts more than 3,000km of coastline and thousands of islands and islets together with pristine beaches.
However, the tourism sector’s contribution to the GDP is below 7 percent.
Nguyen Anh Duong, economic expert at the Central Institute for Economic Management, said that it is necessary to improve the infrastructure, including supporting services, which fail to meet tourists’ demands.
Due to the limited infrastructure, visitors to Vietnam enjoy sightseeing but not during a long stay, he said.
Service quality, product prices are also issues of visitors’ concern when they visit Vietnam.
Added to this, visas should be granted at border gates to simplify administrative procedures and save tourists and travel agents’ time.
“To implement the Politburo’s resolution to turn tourism into an economic spearhead, we have proposed strengthening the development of infrastructure, including road, aviation, railway, and sea links,” said Pham Phuong Thao, deputy head of Travel Department under the Vietnam Administration of Tourism.
