VietNamNet Bridge – The number of visitors to Vietnam from Chinese-speaking markets dropped sharply in July, two months after China’s illegal deployment of Haiyang Shiyou-981 oil rig and escort ships in Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone and continental shelf in the East Sea.

Figures of the General Statistics Office (GSO) showed Chinese visitors to Vietnam last month fell 28.8% year-on-year to more than 123,000 Chinese and Taiwanese travelers slid 15.7% to around 38,000.

The number of visitors from Malaysia and Singapore also declined 36.2% and 8.6% respectively in July

China has removed the oil rig and escort ships from Vietnamese waters but local travel agencies said the East Sea tensions continue to place negative impact on Vietnam’s tourism, especially on the companies and localities whose Chinese-speaking guests account for a majority.

Tu Quy Thanh, director of HCMC-based Lien Bang Travelink, said bookings from Chinese-speaking markets for tours to Vietnam remained dismal. “The number of Chinese visitors to Vietnam has fallen strongly and few Vietnamese people buy tours to China.”

In July, travel agencies resumed some chartered flights linking China and Danang City after several months of interruption but the arrivals from the neighboring market remained low. Plans for opening more chartered flights from China to the central city have not been translated into reality.

Tran Chi Cuong, deputy director of the Danang Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said all chartered flights may not be resumed until the end of this year. However, there have been signs of recovery in room occupancy at the hotels serving Chinese tourists in recent times.

The East Sea issues have also affected promotion activities of both local and foreign tour operators. For instance, the International Travel Expo is scheduled to kick off in HCMC in the next 10 days but no Chinese companies have registered to join the event as buyers.

The GSO put international tourist arrivals at more than 564,000 last month, a year-on-year decrease of 14.2%. However, international visitor arrivals in the first seven months of this year surged 15.6% to 4.85 million.

SGT/VNN