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From
WIRE REPORTS
The
number of Vietnamese visitors to China declined by 20 to 30 percent in the past
two months, due to the current economic crisis and the recent tension in the
East Sea, VnExpress reported.
Tran
Van Long, the director of Viet Media Travel, was quoted as saying that the
number of customers booking tour packages to China with his company decreased
some 30 percent in June and July.
In
the past, Long said between 300 and 350 customers booked tours to China every
month. But, recently, that number has dropped to around 100.
Though
the autumn is considered the best time to go, he added, so far only three or
four groups have booked trips to China.
Sai
Gon Tourist has only booked about 650 tours to mainland China this summer ― a
year-on-year drop of nearly 30 percent, said the company’s spokesperson Doan
Thanh Tra.
The
decline was most pronounced for those traveling on the state budget, she noted,
adding that the number of tourists to Hong Kong and Macau increased during the
same period.
Nguyen
Thi Huyen, director of Vietran Tour, attributed the decline to the economic
crisis where people had to tighten their spending, according to the VnExpress
report.
Several
tourists, however, attributed changes in their travel plans to the recent
tension in the East Sea.
Thu
Huong, who lives in Ha Noi’s Dong Da District, said her family just returned
from a tour to Guangzhou and Shenzhen. Initially, their party had included a
number of relatives who later decided to travel to Singapore and Malaysia,
instead, citing concerns about the political tension.
Vu
The Binh, chairman of Viet Nam Tourism Association, argued that the decline was
“normal” given the current economic difficulties, high visa fees ($60 per
application) and complicated procedures.
The
price of many Chinese tours was out of the reach for most Vietnamese people, he
said.
“The
East Sea tension between the two countries is also a factor, because tourism is
very sensitive to political turmoil, but it was not the main reason for the
recent decline,” he said.
But
“if the East Sea remains tense, it will affect tourism more strongly and
seriously,” Binh stressed.
According
to VnExpress, the number of Chinese tourists to Vietnam also has declined.
In
fact, statistics put out by the Viet Nam National Administration of Tourism
showed that 79,000 Chinese tourists visited Viet Nam in June ― a 32 percent
drop from the same period last year. That figure was 90,700 in July, a 13
percent drop in the number of Chinese tourists welcomed in 2011.
Luu
Duc Ke, director of Ha Noi Tourist, attributed the decline in Chinese tourism
to economic factors.
