Vietnam tourist arrivals to Thailand on pace for record year

Despite Vietnam’s currently sluggish economy that is expected to have a GDP growth 5.04% to 5.35% this year, Vietnamese tourist arrivals to Thailand are on pace to surpass arrivals in 2012. 
More than 618,000 Vietnamese came to Thailand last year. 

The first five months of 2013 saw Thailand receiving 260,621 Vietnamese visitors, a rise of 10.40% over the corresponding period in 2012. The economic slowdown in Vietnam is having a beneficial effect on Thai tourism as travelers look for short-haul holiday destinations to save costs. Taking advantage of this trend, earlier this month VietJet Air, a low-cost carrier of Vietnam, launched a Hanoi to Bangkok service, flying seven times a week. The Hanoi flights are in addition to those from Ho Chi Minh City that the airline started in February this year. The VietJet Air flights bring the total of air connections between Vietnam and Thailand to 104 flights weekly. 

Thailand is proving to be a popular holiday spot for Vietnamese tourists due to the country’s proximity to Vietnam, its attractive value for money and its good range of tourist attractions. Apart from the flights, overland travel is becoming a favorable option because of the presence of many Indochina roads crossing from Vietnam into Laos and ending in Thailand. Tourist traffic from Vietnam’s central region covering Hue, Danang and Quang Tri has risen significantly since the opening of the second Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge spanning the Mekong River at Savannakhet in Laos and Mukdahan in northeastern Thailand.