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Jun 06, 2019 / 14:12

Vietnam – an emerging regional star in tourism: The ASEAN Post

Vietnam and Southeast Asia in general need to take advantage of this growth and position themselves as some of the best destinations for international tourism.

The ASEAN Post, a Malaysian technology-driven, communications and intelligence platform, has published an article featuring the rise of Vietnam’s tourism and describing Vietnam as an emerging regional star in the tourism sector.
 
Hanoi.
Hanoi.
Editor Sheith Khidhir from The ASEAN Post wrote that in the first quarter of 2018, Southeast Asia saw a 9.4% increase in tourist arrivals, which is the largest number recorded amongst all regions at the time. This figure exceeds the already robust 6% average growth for global tourism during the same period.
In 2017, Vietnam recorded the largest increase in tourist arrivals for the region, with each tourist spending an average of US$685. The country is expected to record an even bigger increase in 2018 as it recorded a 25.2% growth for tourist arrivals in the first quarter of the year, compared to the same period in 2017.
In 2017, 90 tourism accommodations were recognized as three- to five-star hotels in Vietnam, of which 13 are in the five-star class, 31 are in the four-star class and 46 in the three-star class. Currently, the country has 25,600 tourist accommodations, offering more than 508,000 rooms. This is an increase of 12% total accommodations and 11% total rooms compared to 2016.
“In moving forward, Vietnam has identified barriers to incoming tourists that need to be solved to improve its attractiveness to foreign arrivals. These include a limited visa policy compared to other countries, which was ranked by the Global Tourism Competitiveness Report at 116 in terms of visa requirements, the lowest among ASEAN countries,” The ASEAN Post wrote.
In addition, Vietnam and Southeast Asia in general need to take advantage of this growth and position themselves as some of the best destinations for international tourism.
The number of foreign visitors to Vietnam in the first five-month of 2019 is estimated at nearly 7.3 million, up 8.8% against the same period last year, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO).
The country expects to welcome some 18 million international visitors this year, compared to 15.5 million in 2018.