The same day, a ceremony will take place to round off the 2016 National Tourism Year, which was designated as such to draw visitors to Phu Quoc Island and the Mekong Delta region.
Experts said the tourism year was a key move in turning Kien Giang into a hub for tourism in the Mekong Delta region with Phu Quoc Island as a leading resort destination in Vietnam.
In 2016, more than 5.4 million tourists visited Kien Giang, a year-on-year increase of 24% exceeding the yearly quota by 9.5%. Of this figure, international arrivals grew 31.4% annually, 14% higher than initial plan.
According to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, the country expects to welcome over 10 million international arrivals and serve more than 62 million domestic travellers this year, with the total revenue thence estimated at VND400 trillion (US$18 billion).
On January 1, 2017, Vietnam will begin issuing e-visas to foreign tourists.
As such, the tourism sector has set a goal of 11.5 million foreign visitors and a revenue of VND460 trillion (US$20.24 billion) in 2017.
