Cat Ba island in northern port city of Hai Phong (Source: VNA)




Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam’s tourism
sector is likely to fulfill the target set by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc
of welcoming 13 million international visitors in 2017.



Vietnam served more than 8.47 million foreign
tourists in the first eight months of this year and grossed 335.8 trillion VND
(14.7 billion USD) in revenue, year-on-year increases of 29.7 percent and 26.7
percent, respectively.



Director of the Vietnam National Administration
of Tourism Nguyen Van Tuan said while the number of international visitors to
other countries in July and August declined such as the Republic of Korea (down
40 percent), Thailand (down 9.5 percent), Malaysia (down 7.5 percent), and the
Philippines (down 38 percent), Vietnam attracted over 1.2 million foreigners, a
monthly increase of 18.5 percent.



Vietnam ranks 67th among 136 economies in the
Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index 2017, up eight places compared to
the same period in 2015. 



Tuan, however, admitted that there are still
challenges to ensuring sustainable tourism development, including low
infrastructure quality, inadequate Government spending on tourism, diminishing natural
resources and diseases.



He suggested tapping natural resources to build
sea-island, ecological, and cultural tourism products and services.



The world’s largest tourism website TripAdvisor
announced a list of ten most attractive spots in Vietnam voted by tourists.
Notably, the central province of Quang Binh climbed to fourth in the list,
behind Hoi An, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City only. 



According to TripAdvisor, Quang Binh was
described as a heaven for exploration and experiences with various tourism
destinations and routes such as Son Doong cave, Tu Lan cave system, Da Nhay
beach and Phong Nha- Ke Bang cave, among others.-VNA