The information was announced by Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyen Ngoc Thien at the ongoing National Assembly’s meeting in Hanoi on October 31.
Tourism management and investment was the issue that National Assembly (NA) Vice Chairman Phung Quoc Hien asked Minister Thien to report to the NA after discussions on socio-economic issues.
According to the minister, the tourism sector achieved significant results in the 2015-2018 period with the number of international arrivals rising from 8 million to 15.5 million. Domestic visitors also soared from 57 million in 2015 to 80 million in 2018, contributing 8.4% to the GDP.
Vietnam also welcomed 14.5 million international visitors in the first 10 months of 2019, up 13% over the same period last year, the minister said.
The competitiveness of the Vietnam’s tourism sector has continuously improved and is ranked 63rd out of 140 surveyed countries.
However, Vietnam’s tourism quality is not to a high standard and the tourism products are not diverse enough, Minister Thien noted.
He suggested the renewal of awareness of tourism development, the boosting of tourism promotion activities, the investment in tourism infrastructure, and the participation of the private sector in tourism, among others to make tourism become a pillar of the economy.
