Vietnam received 4.25 million international visitors last year, a 0.6 percent improvement on 2007

TUOITRE/FILE

The number of foreign visitors to Vietnam in the first two months of this year fell 10 percent from last year to 689,000 arrivals, the General Statistics Office reported.

Of the total arrivals, more than 403,000 visitors were holidaymakers, about 108,000 came for business purposes and the rest were visiting relatives, Vietnam News Agency reported.

In the first two months of the year, visitors to Vietnam from the U.S. jumped 40 percent from the same time last year to 90,000 arrivals, making U.S. the inbound tourism sector’s biggest source market.

Tourist arrivals from Australia, France and Canada rose by between 12 and 30 percent in the period, while tourist numbers from major Asian markets, such as China, South Korea, Japan and Taiwan, fell.

A nationwide promotional program to provide tourists with discounts of up to 50 percent was launched last month as part of the sector’s efforts to lure visitors to the country.

The sector is also promoting Vietnam as a tourist destination in the global media by organizing more press trips through the country.

Vietnam has set a target of welcoming 4.3 million international arrivals this year and generating revenue of VND65,000 billion (US$ 3.7 billion) from the sector.