Foreign arrivals to Vietnam continue to drop

Foreign arrivals to Vietnam continue to drop

The number of foreign visitors to Vietnam in June is estimated at 529,000, down 8.2 percent from May, making it the 13 th consecutive month the country has experienced a decrease in foreign tourist arrivals.

Of the total, the number of visitors travelling by air reduced by 8.6 percent and over land by 8.9 percent while those coming by waterways grew 2.5 times, according to the General Statistics Office.

Data also revealed that the number of tourists from Europe experienced the greatest decrease rate of 14.7 percent with Asian visitors also down 10.6 percent and from Oceania rising by 1.6 percent.

Specific nations with decreased rates include France (nearly 50 percent), China (30.2 percent) and the Republic of Korea (10.6 percent).

Meanwhile, the number of US travellers to Vietnam saw a 31.1 percent increase.

In the first half of 2015, foreign tourist arrivals were estimated at 3.8 million, down 11.3 percent against the same period last year.

Head of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism Nguyen Van Tuan attributed the decrease to the fall of tourists from China and Chinese-speaking markets, which make up 25 percent of the total foreign tourists to Vietnam, since May 2014.

At present, the outbreak of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) in the Republic of Korea, which has claimed more than 30 lives, is also affecting the tourism sector in Asia, including Vietnam.-VNA

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