Foreign tourists walk across The Huc Bridge in downtown Hanoi. (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – The capital city of Hanoi plans to make tourism more sustainable and a key industry, hoping to welcome 30 million visitors per year, including 5.7 million foreigners, by 2020.
According to the municipal Department of Tourism, the capital recorded annual growth of more than 10 percent in tourist arrivals. The growth rate of international holidaymakers is about 14 percent per year while that of domestic visitors averages 9.2 percent.
The city received approximately 19.7 million travellers in 2015, including 3.3 million from overseas who accounted for 40 percent of foreign visitors to Vietnam.
However, the volume was much lower than that of other capital cities in the region. It was only equal to one sixth of the number of international travellers to Bangkok (Thailand), and one third of that in Singapore, and Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia).
Most foreign tourists come from China, the Republic of Korea, Japan, the United Kingdom, Australia, the United States, France, Germany and Malaysia.
About 80 percent of international visitors to Hanoi were holidaying with the remainder coming for business.
The local tourism industry earned nearly 55 trillion VND (2.47 billion USD) last year and 31.3 trillion VND (1.4 billion USD) during the first half of this year. Average spending per foreign visitor was estimated at 110 USD per day while the average domestic traveller spent 55 USD per day.
Local authorities launched a plan towards 2020 and post-2020 to boost tourism, aiming to develop infrastructure and improve tourism products in terms of quality and diversity.
Hanoi hopes to generate 120 trillion VND in revenue from tourism by 2020 with an annual growth of 15-17 percent until then.-VNA
