Vietnam has seen decline in inbound and outbound tourists this summer, mainly because many people prefer watching World Cup matches on TV to making holiday trips as usual, local newspaper Vietnam News reported Monday.

The number of Vietnamese people taking tours has decreased 20- 40 percent year-on-year since the World Cup started early this month. Even tours to some Southeast Asian countries, favorite destinations of many local visitors, have been affected, said the report.

The sports event has not only affected travel by local people, but also tour plans of foreign visitors to Vietnam. Foreign arrivals to the country since early June have dropped by 15-20 percent over the same period last year.

To cope with the difficulties, many travel agencies have strengthened marketing, offered discounts and organized special tours, some of which have incorporated World Cup watching in Germany.

Vietnam received nearly 1.6 million international arrivals, mainly from China, South Korea and the United States, in the first five months of this year, a year-on-year rise of 12 percent, according to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism.

The country, which hosted nearly 3.5 million international arrivals and 16 million domestic visitors in 2005, hopes to welcome 5.5 million to 6 million foreign visitors and 25 million to 26 million domestic ones in 2010, and make total tourism revenues of 4 billion to 4.5 billion dollars in the year.

Source: Xinhua