Foreign tourists to Vietnam exceed 6 million

Hanoi, September 29 (VNA) - Vietnam welcomed more than 6 million international arrivals during the first nine months of 2014, up by 10.42 percent compared to the same period last year. Meanwhile, the number of domestic tourists hit 32.4 million during the period, an increase of 7.6 percent, according to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT). Tourism has generated 179 trillion VND (8.44 billion USD) so far this year, a year-on-year rise of 19.24 percent. The launch of a brand new hydro-plane service linking Hanoi and Ha Long Bay, a World Natural Heritage site, early this month is said to bring more tourists to the country. The operator Hai Au Aviation Joint Stock Company has scheduled one to three flights between Hanoi and Ha Long City per day, and five to ten daily sightseeing flights over Ha Long Bay. The company is planning to open new routes from Ho Chi Minh City in the near future, including to Mui Ne in central Binh Thuan province, NhaTrang in central Khanh Hoa province, Con Dao Island in southern Ba Ria–Vung Tau province and to Phu Quoc in southern Kien Giang province. During the nine-month period, the capital city of Hanoi received nearly 1.5 tourists in the first three quarters, up 17.1 percent year-on-year, thanks to its opening of the Hang Buom cuisine street in the Old Quarter. Meanwhile, Ho Chi Minh City, the country’s southern economic hub, earned roughly 19 trillion VND (896 million USD) from hotel and tourism services, up by 8.3 percent year-on-year.-VNA