Singapore targets 250,000 Vietnamese tourists
14/06/08 (GMT+7)
Singapore Tourism Board (STB) announced a plan on June 10, to attract 250,000 tourists from Vietnam this year despite concerns over a possible decline in outbound travel in Vietnam..
Ong Jin Chwen, chief representative of STB in Indochina, said the target this year represented an increase of around 24% from more than 203,000 Vietnamese tourists that Singapore attracted last year.
"This year's target is achievable," Ong told the Daily after the announcement of a photo contest called "Click Singapore" in Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam on Tuesday. He said over 100,000 Vietnamese traveled to Singapore in the first five months of this year.
Ong is pinning high hopes that more Vietnamese people would travel to Singapore, especially in summer and during the Christmas season when many festivals and entertainment events take place in the island country.
Ong unveiled a 40% rise in the number of Vietnamese who have repeated Singapore visits recently and said many Vietnamese have visited Singapore on their own, instead of taking tours arranged by tourism companies. So some local travel firms have reported a drop in bookings for their outbound tours.
"Travelers are very smart nowadays," Ong said and expressed his optimism that a spike inflation would not deter Vietnamese tourists from visiting Singapore.
Ong emphasized that not all Vietnamese people traveled to Singapore for holidays because many were there for education, healthcare and business.
Despite the double-digit growth in Vietnamese arrivals in Singapore, STB has designed programs to promote the country's new destinations and attractions in Vietnam.
The agency is working with Tiep Thi & Gia Dinh Magazine and Singapore Airlines over the "Click Singapore" photo contest for Vietnamese people traveling to Singapore.
The contest requires Vietnamese travelers to load their photos featuring the funny and unique activities they do when they are in Singapore from January 1, 2008 to March 15, 2009 on the website at www.khoanhkhacsingapore.com.
Owners of the best 10 photos of every quarter will receive US$300 each in cash. Two Toyota Innova cars will go to those owning the best two photos chosen by the public at the website.
Ong expected the contest would help further promote Singapore as a destination of choice for international tourists. Last year's contest attracted 2,200 photos, which were submitted and voted by more than 4.5 million people.
Regional tourism authorities see Vietnam as a market of huge potential and have various products to woo more travelers here.
Tourism Malaysia has revealed its goal of attracting 180,000 Vietnamese tourists this year, as against the nearly 120,000 number last year and the more than 63,000 in 2006.
The Tourism Authority of Thailand attracted more than 254,000 Vietnamese people last year. Pichai Raktasinha, director of the agency in Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam, forecast an increase of at least 10% in the number this year given more direct flights between Thailand and Vietnam.
(Source: SGT, URL: http://english.vietnamnet.vn/travel/2008/06/788134/)
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