Central Coast’s Khánh Hòa seeks to lure global travel community

January 06, 2017 | 10:18

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Its beaches, luxury resorts and golf courses is helping the central coastal province of Khánh Hoà attract an increasing number of foreign tourists.

The number of international arrivals in Khánh Hoà has increased by 18 per cent a year for the past five years. Photo cafefcdn.com

According to the Việt Nam National Administration of Tourism, the number of international arrivals in Khánh Hòa has increased by 18 per cent a year for the past five years.

Most visitors head for Nha Trang, a beach town which received 1.12 million foreign visitors last year, slightly down from the 1.3 million the previous year.

But the number of Chinese visitors has bucked the trend, rising to 600,000 last year from 33,000 in 2014.

“We have no reason to believe that a huge surge in Chinese tourists has driven away tourists from some traditional source markets," Trần Viết Trung, head of the Khánh Hoà tourism agency, told Sài Gòn Economic Times.

"Nevertheless, it is time to revive our long-standing tourist markets and tap new ones.”

Trung pointed out that his agency has already begun reaching out to operators in Germany, South Korea and Japan.

Nguyễn Văn Thanh, deputy chairman of the Nha Trang – Khánh Hoà Tourism Association, said Vietnam Airlines would begin direct flights to Germany in April, and Khánh Hoà authorities would co-operate with local travel operators to attract Japanese visitors.

According to VNAT, Việt Nam welcomed 10 million foreign visitors last year, up 26 per cent from 2015. The figure includes nearly 2.7 million Chinese visitors, up 53 per cent from a year earlier.

VNS

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