Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan, who is also Head of the State Steering Committee on Tourism, affirmed that the industry’s growth had helped step up socio-economic development, poverty reduction and economic restructuring in localities nationwide.

However, to become a mainstay of the national economy in the next 10 years with a target of hosting 10-15 million arrivals of international tourists and over 60 million domestic tourists, the Deputy PM reckoned that the industry should promptly build and submit to the government for approval a strategy on tourism development for the period of 2011-2020, with a vision towards 2030.

According to the Deputy PM, to lure more international tourists, it is necessary to increase the quality of the country’s tourist sites under international standards and upgrade sites that are yet to meet such standards.

The number of foreign tourists to the country is rising, from just 250,000 in 1990 to more than 4 million last year, ranking 5 th in the region and 40 th in the world.

Vietnam hosted 2.5 million foreign arrivals and served 17 million domestic tourists in the first six months of this year, earning some 45 trillion VND (2.36 billion USD).