Foreign tourists in Ha Giang, Vietnam (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – The number offoreign tourists to Vietnam reached only 3.8 million in the first eight monthsof 2020, down by 66.6 percent compared to the figure of 11.3 millionrecorded in the same period last year, as the COVID-19 pandemic greatlyimpacted travel.
The number was announced by the GeneralStatistics Office (GSO) over the weekend.
Most of the arrivals were before March 22,the day Vietnam started closing its border to nearly all foreignarrivals in a bid to curb the spread of coronavirus.
The country only in recent months allows afew exceptions – foreign diplomats, investors, highly skilled workers andexperts, along with some flights repatriating Vietnamese citizens. Allforeign entries are quarantined for 14 days upon arrival.
Of the 3.8 million, 3.05 million arrived in Vietnamby air, while 580,000 and 140,000 entered the country via land and sea routes.
The GSO said while 163,000 foreignarrivals in August is an improvement of 17 percent compared to July, it stillmarks a 99 percent decline compared to the number in 2019.
Visitors from Asia, accounting for more than73 percent of the total number of international arrivals to Vietnam this year,fell by nearly 70 percent over the same period last year.
Arrivals from key markets such as China, theRepublic of Korea, Japan, Thailand, and Malaysia all posted record losses of 72percent, 70.5 percent, 67 percent, 68 percent, 59 percent, and 70 percent,respectively, within the eight months of 2020.
However, arrivals from neighbouring Cambodiaincreased by nearly 71 percent, according to the GSO.
Visitors from Europe in the past eight monthswere estimated to fall by nearly 55 percent over the same period of 2019.
Arrivals from the Americas are estimated tohave decreased by more than 65 percent compared to the first eight months of2019.
In a cabinet meeting held on late last week,Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc asked that the National Steering Committee forCOVID-19 Prevention and Control and ministries discuss opening flights toepidemiologically safe countries and regions, including resuming flightsto Japan conducted by Vietnamese airlines.
He also urged ministries and agencies toclosely monitor and accelerate granting of visas to foreign experts andinvestors.
Deputy Director of the Vietnam National Administrationof Tourism Ha Van Sieu in a recent recovery-focused tourism meeting said theGovernment implemented policies early to aid people and businesses hithard by the pandemic.
Hotels and tourism accommodation businessesthat registered to be used as paid quarantine facilities for COVID-19 patientsor foreign entries into the country will enjoy a 20 percent cut in electricityrates, while many fees such as appraisal fee for international travel businesslicences, domestic tour business licences, and for issuance of tour guidecertificates have been cut in half, Sieu said./.
VNA
