The 2010 revenue of the tourism sector is estimated at VND96 trillion ($4.8 billion), up by 37 percent from last year, according to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT).
The impressive figure has been supported by the steadily increasing numbers of foreign and domestic visitors, VNAT explained.
VNAT’s senior official Vu The Binh said that the number of international visitors to Vietnam could reach 5.05 million in 2010, much higher than the expected number of 4.5-4.6 million.
The number of domestic tourists also reached 28 million, higher than the expected figure for the year, 3 million more than in 2009.
“This is the first time that the number of international tourists rose by 1.15 million while the number of local visitors was also up by 3 million. The revenue, therefore, has rocketed,” Binh said.
Another element that made tourism revenue soar is the increase of the prices for inputs, which forced the prices of some services up.
“Despite unfavorable fluctuation of the exchange rates for the US dollar and the Euro and the increase of input cost, we have had a successful year,” Binh commented.
Localities that attracted large number of tourists include HCM City and the central provinces of Quang Nam, Khanh Hoa and Da Nang.