Hanoi - Vietnam will cut prices at hotels and on state-owned
Vietnam Airlines by 30 to 50 per cent to boost the country's tourism
industry, hit hard by the worldwide economic slowdown, senior tourism
officials said Friday.
Nguyen Manh Cuong, deputy head of the Vietnam National
Administration of Tourism (VNAT), said tourism in Vietnam had been
hurt by the turmoil, with international arrivals down sharply.
Vietnam expected between 4.8 and 5 million international visitors
in 2008, but had only received 3.9 million by the end of November.
Visitor numbers from traditional tourism markets such as Japan, South
Korea, and Europe were all down.
Vietnam's Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism will announce a
plan to revive the tourism sector next week, said Vu The Binh,
director of VNAT's Travel Department.
Binh said the plan would take effect from January 1 through to
September 30.
The plan includes cutting prices on package tours run by state
travel agencies and room rates at the country's three- to five-star
hotels between 30 and 50 per cent.
Vietnam's government can influence prices at both state-run and
private hotels, if the private hotels belong to official
state-affiliated tourism bodies, as most do.
Binh said Vietnam Airlines had committed to reducing ticket prices
30 to 50 per cent on most of its flights, including those from
Western Europe, Japan, South Korea and ASEAN countries, which account
for 50 to 60 per cent of all arrivals.
Vietnam will begin granting visas on arrival at all international
border gates as of next year. Currently, several of Vietnam's border
crossings with Laos and Cambodia do not grant visas.
The plan will use some of the money allocated under Vietnam's
1-billion-dollar economic stimulus plan, announced earlier this month.
Vietnamese newspapers reported this week that VNAT plans to spend
20 to 30 million dollars on a global tourism marketing campaign in
foreign media.
There were mixed reactions from hotel managers.
'I am optimistic,' said Mai Van Chung, sales director of the
Flower Garden in Hanoi's Old Quarter. 'I think the plans can help to
bring foreign visitors to Vietnam.'
But Han Le Hang, manager of the boutique Zenith Hotel in downtown
Hanoi, said most hotels had already cut prices 20 to 30 per cent.
'If a hotel cuts its rates by 50 per cent, it will have no money
to pay its staff,' Hang said.
According to VNAT, the number of international visitors to Vietnam
had been rising some 10 per cent each year, but only 15 to 20 per
cent were return visitors. The agency ascribes the low return rate to
low quality of hotels and lack of entertainment.
VNAT estimates each visitor spends between 1,200 and 1,500 dollars
in Thailand, 2,000 dollars in Singapore, but only 900 dollars in
Vietnam.
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