Vietnam’s tourism sector has been hit by the global economic downturn, with the number of foreign tourists arriving in the first quarter down by 16 percent, the General Statistic Office announced on Monday.

In the first three months of this year, 992,100 visitors arrived in Vietnam from overseas.

The number of holidaymakers dropped by 20 percent, the number of people arriving for business trips was down by 26 percent and the number of people visiting relatives fell 1 percent.

The number of tourists arriving by air was down by 10 percent, visitors arriving by land fell 37.5 percent and the number of sea tourists slumped 60 percent.

Tourist from major Asian markets - China, South Korea, Japan and Taiwan - fell from the same period last year.

But visitors to Vietnam from the U.S. jumped 17 percent to 120,800 arrivals in the first three months of this year, while the number of tourists from Australia rose 5 percent and the number of visitors from Canada climbed 11 percent.

Industry insiders said the global economic downturn was mostly to blame for the slump in tourist arrivals.

Domestic tour operators are stepping up promotional activities on the internet and in the international media to publicize Vietnam as an attractive tourist destination.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has agreed to spend VND25 billion (US$1.4 million) promoting tourism this year.

The sector has set a target of welcoming 4.5 million foreign visitors this year.