Singapore Targets 250,000 Vietnamese Tourists This Year

Singapore plans to attract 250,000 tourists from Vietnam this year despite concerns over a possible decline in outbound travel in Vietnam, Singapore Tourism Board (STB) announced June 10.

 

The 2008 target represented an increase of around 24 per cent from more than 203,000 Vietnamese tourists that Singapore welcomed last year, Ong Jin Chwen, chief Representative of STB in Indochina, said.

 

“This year's goal is achievable,” Ong added, revealing that 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.

 

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.

 

In the first five months his year, over 100,000 Vietnamese traveled to Singapore. The foreign country is pinning high hopes that more Vietnamese would travel to Singapore, especially in summer and during the Christmas season when many festivals and entertainment events take place in the island country. (SGT, VietNamNet)