VietNamNet Bridge – The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) has put Vietnam in the list of the top Asian countries with strong tourism performance in the first half of this year.
UNWTO said in a statement about global tourism that international tourist arrivals are estimated to have grown by 7% in the first six months. Asia Pacific with the growth of 14% and the Middle East with 20% led growth in the global tourism industry in the period.
The organization said Vietnam and Myanmar had the same growth of 35%, ranking the two countries as particular countries which had strong results in the period, behind Sri Lanka and Japan.
“Asia in particular is experiencing a very dynamic rebound, with strong results from Sri Lanka (49%), Japan (36%), Vietnam (35%), Myanmar (35%), Hong Kong (China) (23%), Macao (China) (23%) and Singapore (23%),” says the report.
UNWTO said Asia had once again shown a strong capacity for recovery. International tourism has been a driving force in the region, currently the second most visited region in the world with 181 million international tourist arrivals, or 21% of the world total.
However, the organization still maintained its forecast that the global tourism sees continued growth but risks remain. “Although we are witnessing a clear recovery in international tourism, we must remain cautious,” UNWTO Secretary-General Taleb Rifai said in the statement.
Nguyen Van Tuan, head of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, earlier told the Daily that local travel remained a key pillar for the country’s tourism, with up to 17 million Vietnamese people traveling in the first half, representing over two-thirds of the figure for all of 2009.
Growth in international visitor arrivals was 32.6% in the first half, with more than 2.51 million foreign visitors coming to the country. The number reached nearly 3.35 million in the first eight months, up 35.2% year-on-year.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News