VIETNAM EXPECTS MORE VISITORS FROM MALAYSIA

KUALA LUMPUR, April 5 (Bernama) -- Vietnam expects about 250,000 visitors
from Malaysia this year, a significant increase from 166,000 in 2009.

The Director-General of the International Cooperation Department of
Vietnam's National Administration of Tourism, Pham Quang Hung, said Malaysia was
one of the top markets for the country's tourism industry for the past several
years.

But this year he expected Malaysia to top the list because of the numerous
tourism, cultural and history-related events that they were organising, he told
Bernama in a recent interview here.

Arrivals from Malaysia for January to March this year are estimated to hit
44,888, representing a growth of 114.3 per cent compared with the corresponding
period last year.

Pham said Hanoi was celebrating its 1,000th anniversary this year where a
series of events had been arranged, and this was expected to attract more
tourists, including from Malaysia.

He said arrivals from Malaysia dropped last year compared with 2008
(176,000), due to the impact of the global financial crisis.

However, because of the crisis, many people also decided to change the type
of travelling, cutting down on long-haul travel and opting for short-haul travel
to countries in this region such as Vietnam, he added.

He said Vietnam was blessed with many tourism destinations such as the
Halong Bay which is made up of 1,969 islands of various sizes and recognised by
Unesco as a natural heritage site of worldwide importance.

Tourism contributed some US$3.58 billion to Vietnam's economy in 2008 and
the figure reached US$3.78 billion last year. Total tourist arrivals were about
3.78 million in 2009 and the target for this year is 4.2 million.
-- BERNAMA