VietNamNet Bridge – Its beaches, luxury resorts and golf courses is helping the central coastal province of Khanh Hoa attract an increasing number of foreign tourists.

Illustrative image -- File photo

According to the Viet Nam National Administration of Tourism, the number of international arrivals in Khanh Hoa 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," Tran Viet Trung, head of the Khanh Hoa tourism agency, told Sai Gon 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.

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

According to VNAT, Viet 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