Tet festival attracts foreign tourists to Vietnam

Besides a series of activities to mark the 1,000th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi, the Tet (Lunar New Year) Festival is expected to draw a large number of foreign tourists to Vietnam.

According to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT), Vietnam estimated to welcome more than 416,000 foreign arrivals in the first month of 2010, representing increases of 20.4% over the same period last year and 10% compared to December 2009.

There was a general increase of foreigners from various countries, including Australia with a 26.3% rise, Canada with 24.3%, Republic of Korea with 21.1%, US with 9.2% and Japan with 3%. Notably, Chinese visitors provided an impressive year-on-year increase of 94%, reaching 59,000.

During the month, many foreign sea liners selected Vietnam as their destination, including the Voyages of Discovery carrying 900 tourists on board, the Spirit of Discovery with 800 visitors and the five-star Costa Classica with 2,000.

At the Tan Son Nhat International Airport, the number of foreign visitors and overseas Vietnamese who return home for Tet is expected to jump by 10-15%.

In addition to beautiful landscapes, culture and cuisine are two main factors luring foreigners to the country during the traditional Tet holidays.

With thousands of foreign visitors flocking to Vietnam during the Lunar New Year Festival, the VNAT hopes to welcome between 4.5-4.6 million international arrivals in 2010, up 18-21% compared to last year.