Answer: 2004 was a successful year for Vietnam Tourism. The number of International tourists increased 20.5% against 2003. Other indicators, such as national income from tourism, spending by tourists, the duration of stay of tourists were higher than past years. Although tourism was hit hard by the bird flu in the first months of the year, in the later months, the number of tourists made a quick comeback, thus creating a fairly stable growth of tourism for Vietnam.
In the first Quarter of 2005, Vietnam saw a high growth rate in tourism, with international tourists increased by 22 per cent against the same period in 2004, with a total of more than 870,000. I am confident that 2005 will witness a good success for Vietnam tourism, providing a good impetus for Vietnam tourism in the 2006-2010 period.