Foreign tourists from the cruise ship Spectrum of the Seas disembark to go sightseeing in the southern province of Ba Ria - Vung Tau as the ship docked at the Tan Cang-Cai Mep on February 26-27, 2023. (Photo: VNA) The February figure represented a 31.6-fold increase compared tothe same period last year before the country completely reopened its bordersand resumed all international tourism activities in mid-March.
All in all, there were 1.8 million foreign visitors arriving in Vietnamin the first two months of 2023, 36.6 times higher than the first two months of2022, but barely 60% of the figure of 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemicstarted.
In the first two months, 90.7% of the tourists came to Vietnam byair (1.6 million), 8.6% by road (154,900), and 0.7% by sea (13,000).
Most of the visitors are from Asia with 1.29 million, followed byEuropean visitors (242,500), Americas (186,300), Oceania (77,300), and Africa(4,300).
Vietnam aims to welcome 8 million foreign tourists this year, amodest figure compared to 19 million tourists the country received in 2019.
The goal was set at the beginning of 2023, before China, a majormarket that contributes nearly a third of the total of foreign visitors to Vietnamin pre-pandemic years announced its reopening plan in February.
However, it should be noted that China has not included Vietnam inthe list of 20 countries to where travel companies can organise outbound tourswith "flights hotels" service (which include Thailand, New Zealand,Russia, Singapore, Cuba, South Africa, etc.) in its tourism resumptionannouncement on February 6.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has proposed Chinarestart outbound travel tours to Vietnam to improve and recover tourism betweenthe two countries in a diplomatic note.
The Vietnam National Administration of Tourism said during March7-9, Vietnam will attend the 2023 ITB Berlin Fair, the world's largest annualtourism trade fair with 180,000 visitors expected this year.
Vietnam will build a 450m2 pavilion under the theme of"Reconnecting" after COVID-19 disruptions. Vietnam's tourism willprioritise 'reconnections' with markets, partners, tourists and the public inGerman and European nations.
Many travel agencies and tourism companies will also be present tointroduce Vietnam's travel policies, destinations, and their new tourismproducts - especially health-related and sustainable, responsible tourism.
New websites, video clips and publications for new promotionalcampaigns for Vietnam's tourism will be unveiled at this event.
The two-month tourism revenue is estimated at 4.7 trillion VND(about 197 million USD), 2.2 times higher than the same period last year, aslocalities this year can resume spring festivals completely uninhabited byCOVID-19 restrictions, drawing a large number of domestic travellers./.
VNA
