Airlines important factor in Vietnam’s tourism growth: VNAT

More airlines joining the Vietnam’s aviation market and improved airport infrastructure have greatly contributed to the increasing number of foreign and domestic tourists, according to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT).

Vietnam is among the world’s fastest growing aviation markets in the recent decade with an average rate of 17.4 percent, the International Air Transport Association has asserted.

The country is home to 28 airports, including 10 international ones.

As many as 68 foreign airlines from 28 countries and territories across the five continents are operating regular international flights to Vietnam. They, together with five Vietnamese airlines, are operating 130 regular international routes and charter flights from/to Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang, Nha Trang, Phu Quoc, and Hai Phong, among others.

Notably, the VNAT revealed that tourist arrivals from Thailand recorded a year-on-year jump of 45.5 percent in the first six months of 2019.

The surge is attributable to various new direct flights linking Vietnam’s famous tourist attractions of Phu Quoc, Da Nang and Da Lat and Thailand’s destinations of Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Phuket, according to experts.

Thailand is now among the 10 largest sources of holidaymakers to Vietnam, while China and the Republic of Korea remain the biggest.

VNA