Tourism Year ends with record

HA NOI – Viet Nam has received more than 10 million foreign tourists in 2016 – a new record for the country’s tourism industry. The figure was given at a conference held on Sunday to review the National Tourism Year 2016 – Phu Quoc – Mekong River Delta.

At the event, which took place at the famous island of Phu Quoc in the southern province of Kien Giang, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyen Ngoc Thien said that the new record is a meaningful milestone for the industry as the figure of 10 million is far beyond the target of 8.6 million tourists.

British citizen Michael Tonge became the 10 millionth tourist visiting the country when he arrived on Phu Quoc Island on Sunday.

In 2016, Vietnamese tourism also has witnessed record growth, with the number of foreign tourists increasing 20 per cent.

At the conference, vice chairman of the Kien Giang provincial’s People Committee Mai Van Huynh, said as the National Tourism Year 2016 was focusing on Phu Quoc, the province had tried its best to implement several events and activities to further promote the island’s tourism potential, aiming to attract more tourists to the spot.

Among those promotional activities was the launch of the Phu Quoc – Kien Giang Green Tourism campaign, which aims to develop the region’s tourism based on its potential of natural land and sea landscapes while heightening natural and environmental protection among local residents, enterprises and tourists.

“During the National Tourism Year 2016 – Phu Quoc – Mekong River Delta, Phu Quoc Island has received 5.4 million tourists, an increase of 24 per cent in comparison with last year. The number of foreign tourists visiting the island was 320,000. The turnover from tourism hit VND3.53 trillion (about $155 million), increasing 41.9 per cent compared with 2015,” Huynh reported.

The National Tourism Year 2017 will focus on the tourist spots in the nothern mountainous province of Lao Cai and the northwestern region.

In 2017, the tourist industry expects to welcome 11.5 million foreign tourists and 66 million domestic tourists with the expected total turnover reaching VND460 trillion (US$20.2 billion). — VNS