Vietnam Tourism.
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According to Nguyen Van Tuan, total income from tourism activities reached approximately VND254,700 billion (US$11.17 billion), a 27 per cent increase over the same period last year. South Koreans, Japanese and Chinese accounted for 50 per cent of the total number of foreign tourists, he said.
The first half of this year has been one of the most remarkable periods in the history of Vietnamese tourism. Places like Da Nang City, the central province of Quang Nam, the northern province of Quang Ninh and the central provinces of Khanh Hoa, Phu Yen and Binh Dinh saw the highest-ever number of tourists in the first six months.
According to the Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report 2017 compiled by the World Economic Forum, Vietnam rose eight places in just one year to rank 67th in the world. The main drivers of the country's T&T competitiveness are its natural resources (34th), cultural resources (30th) and price competitiveness (35th).
In addition, Vietnam has made significant progress on its human resources and labour market pillar (37th, up 18 places) scores, thanks to a better-qualified labour force (53rd) and partially simplified regulations on hiring foreign labour (75th).
The impressive growth of the sector “reflects the brightness painting the whole economy. Nguyen Van Tuan also said that political stability in the country has lured international guests while certain changes in the awareness of Vietnamese people have motivated them to visit domestic destinations more than foreign ones.
Easier procedures in applying for visas to Vietnam for foreign tourists, as well as visa exemptions for guests from the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain have also helped attract more tourists from these markets.
On this occasion, the VNAT’s annual awards ceremony will be held at the Hanoi Opera House on July 8. The agency will give awards to top ten international and domestic travel agencies in the country; top 10 five-star, four-star and three-star hotels; top ten restaurants; top 7 destinations, top five resorts, top ten golf courses. the airlines with the most tourists and airlines with the most rapid growth in the country.
VNAT officials also inform the press about the 13th International Travel Expo to be held in HCM City between September 7 and 9. The event will gather 300 exhibitors, 50 communication partners from all over the world and is expected to attract 35,000 visitors.
Despite the impressive achievements, the sector continued to face the long-standing challenges of a lack of skilled human resources. According to Vu Quoc Tri, a VNAT official, in some destinations, trash has caused serious pollution, there have been robberies here and there, some cases of food poisoning have been recorded and traffic safety is still a burning issue for tourism managers.
Talking about tasks in the remaining six months of the year, Tuan stressed the need to complete regulations for implementing the revised Tourism Law that will take effect on January 1, 2018. The law will be centered around tourists’ benefits, and focused on promoting community tourism products, enhancing tourism profits for the local community and establishing a fund for supporting tourism development from the State budget, visa fees, and other tourism fees.
