Tourist board to issue ‘black list'
Tourist board to issue ‘black list'
The Viet Nam National Administration of Tourism, VNAT, has decided to publish online a "black list" of dishonest tourism services and facilities that tend to rip off customers.
The list will soon be published on the organisation's two websites, tourism.gov.vn and vietnamtourism.com in a move to improve the quality of tourism.
The decision comes as the number of tourists continues to grow rapidly.
More than six million foreigners have visited Viet Nam since the start of the year, a year-on-year increase of 10.4 per cent, reports the General Statistics Office (GSO).
However, the total overall growth since 2009 has been 22.3 per cent a year. The number of visitors in 2009 was 3.747million; in 2010, 5 million; in 2011, 6.25 million; and in 2012, 6.8 million.
Tourists numbered more than 3.75 million, while another one million arrived on business, similar to the numbers arriving to see relatives.
Another 327,000 people arrived for other purposes.
Arrivals from Russia showed the sharpest growth rate, 66.1 per cent, while visitors from China rose 36.2 per cent and from Thailand, by 21 per cent.
In October alone, the country attracted nearly 628,659 visitors, a rise of 2.3 per cent against September and 15.1 per cent higher than for the same month last year.
Viet Nam hoped to welcome more than 7.4 million travellers by the end of this year. This would provide about US$7.9 billion in revenues, up 15.6 per cent from 2012.
According to the GSO, the average spending for visitors is expected to reach $1,067 per head this year. It is estimated that if the country reaches its target of 7.4 million arrivals this year, spending will reach $7.9 billion, a surge of 15.6 per cent compared to $6.83 billion in 2012.
From January to September, Viet Nam's tourism sector pocketed an estimated $7.24 billion in revenue, up 23.5 per cent year-on-year.
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