The Bangkok Postnewspaper reported that new attractions in these two cities and heavy tourismpromotions have drawn 174,777 Thai tourists to Vietnam in the reviewed period, ayear-on-year rise of 46 percent.
Thailand had thehighest growth in arrivals to Vietnam over the first four months, followed byIndonesia (29 percent), Taiwan (25 percent), the Philippines (24.4percent), the Republic of Korea (23.2 percent) and Malaysia (15.7 percent).
The newspaper quoted Ranon Viputsiri, head of commercialoperations at budget airline Thai Vietjet Air, as saying that the number ofThai tourists has surged since mid-April, during the long holidays in Thailand.
Passengers flyingwith Thai Vietjet Air increased by 30 percent in the period, Ranon said. Mostof Thai Vietjet Air's passengers are Thais who hold round-trip tickets togo see landmarks such as Ba Na Hills and Golden Bridge in Da Nang, or to visitDa Lat, a mid-sized city scattered with French colonial villas.
He added that several infrastructure projects inVietnam are underway and will be a plus for the country's tourism.
Thai Vietjet Airhas noticed tourism growth in Vietnam, and the airline has added more flightsto Da Nang and Da Lat to meet passengers’ demand.
Since April thisyear, the Bangkok-Da Nang route has increased from two to three flights daily,while the Bangkok-Da Lat route has been upgraded to daily service, up fromfive flights a week.
Bangkok Airwayshas also ramped up services to Vietnam by increasing the frequency of theBangkok-Da Nang route to 14 flights a week and opening a direct routefrom Bangkok to Cam Ranh with four flights a week in the first quarterthis year.
According tostatistics from the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT),since 2010 the number of international tourists to Vietnam has tripledfrom 5 million to more than 15.6 million in 2018.
Foreign arrivalsin Vietnam in the January-April period are estimated at 5.9 million, up 7.6percent year-on-year, putting Vietnam on track to meet the projected 18million in 2019.-VNA