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| A Thai tourist stands in a hydrangea field in the Central Highland city of Da Lat (Photo: www.bangkokpost.com) |
The Bangkok Post newspaper reported that new attractions in these two cities and heavy tourism promotions have drawn 174,777 Thai tourists to Vietnam in the reviewed period, a year-on-year rise of 46 percent.
Thailand had the highest growth in arrivals to Vietnam over the first four months, followed by Indonesia (29 percent), Taiwan (25 percent), the Philippines (24.4 percent), the Republic of Korea (23.2 percent) and Malaysia (15.7 percent).
The newspaper quoted Ranon Viputsiri, head of commercial operations at budget airline Thai Vietjet Air, as saying that the number of Thai tourists has surged since mid-April, during the long holidays in Thailand.
Passengers flying with Thai Vietjet Air increased by 30 percent in the period, Ranon said. Most of Thai Vietjet Air’s passengers are Thais who hold round-trip tickets to go see landmarks such as Ba Na Hills and Golden Bridge in Da Nang, or to visit Da Lat, a mid-sized city scattered with French colonial villas.
He added that several infrastructure projects in Vietnam are underway and will be a plus for the country’s tourism.
Thai Vietjet Air has noticed tourism growth in Vietnam, and the airline has added more flights to Da Nang and Da Lat to meet passengers’ demand.
Since April this year, the Bangkok-Da Nang route has increased from two to three flights daily, while the Bangkok-Da Lat route has been upgraded to daily service, up from five flights a week.
Bangkok Airways has also ramped up services to Vietnam by increasing the frequency of the Bangkok-Da Nang route to 14 flights a week and opening a direct route from Bangkok to Cam Ranh with four flights a week in the first quarter this year.
According to statistics from the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT), since 2010 the number of international tourists to Vietnam has tripled from 5 million to more than 15.6 million in 2018.
Foreign arrivals in Vietnam in the January-April period are estimated at 5.9 million, up 7.6 percent year-on-year, putting Vietnam on track to meet the projected 18 million in 2019.
