Tourism sector shows signs of recovery

Hanoi (VNA) - The tourism sector has shown signs of recovery with a sharp
increase in the number of people booking tourist services, especially local
tours, on the anniversary of the liberation of Vietnam's southern region (April
30) and May Day.

Hotels and guest houses at famous tourist resorts nationwide have been fully
booked for over a month. Honggaitourist reported a rise in holiday-makers of 120
percent year on year while Lua Viet Tour said its booking had increased by 50
percent and Ben Thanh Tourist by 20 percent.

The head of Vietravel's Hanoi Research and Development Section, Duong Mai Lan
said that the number of domestic tourists has contributed to this sharp rise.


In addition, a large number of attractive and unique tourism programmes have been
offered to capitalise on the four-day holiday, she added.

Vietravel is expected to cater for around 5,000 domestic tourists and 2,500
overseas visitors during this period, said Lan.

According to statistics from a number of travel agents, the number of booked
overseas tours has risen by between 10-15 percent and Vietfoot has reported that
most of its overseas tours are fully booked and up by 40 percent year on year.
This could be put down to attractive air fares and other promotional programmes
offered by airlines.

Hong Kong , China , Singapore , Malaysia , the Republic of Korea and
Australia are popular destinations for this holiday period. Saigontourist
said its Hanoi branch is currently offering 20 different tours to Singapore
, China , Thailand , Cambodia , the Republic of Korea , Japan , Africa,
Egypt , Europe and the US . At the same time, Vietravel is offering a
four-day tour to explore the RoK at the attractive price of 870 USD per person.


The head of Vietnam 's Tourist Administration's Travel Department, Vu The Binh
said that this economic sector is recovering faster than previously
forecast.-Enditem