Viet Nam attracts big spenders

Viet Nam in September alone welcomed 350,000 foreign tourists, raising the total number of foreign visitors in the first nine months of 2007 to 3.2 million, up 18 percent year-on-year.

The country saw increases in the number of tourists from countries and territories that are renowned for high consumer spending levels such as Hong Kong - up 31 percent; Japan, 14 percent; the Republic of Korea, 22 percent; Russia, 60 percent; France, 40 percent, and the Netherlands, 42 percent.

Tourists from ASEAN countries were also on the rise as Indonesian, Singaporean, Thai and Malaysian arrivals surged by between 12-61 percent.

Room occupancy rates in key tourist sites all exceeded 70 percent throughout the country, while 4-5 star hotels in Ha Noi, Ho Chi Minh City and Nha Trang reported having between 90-100 percent of their rooms booked.

The number of domestic tourists going abroad to Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia and China also were on the rise.

Travel businesses in the country expect that outbound tours will swell in number as a number of foreign airways continue to offer budget services from Viet Nam.

Source: http://www.vnagency.com.vn/Home/EN/tabid/119/itemid/215458/Default.aspx