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Statistics reveal that the number of Chinese tourists traveling to Vietnam overland is declining.
The reason is the Chinese government wanted to prevent Chinese citizens from coming to Vietnam for gambling.
According to Mr Vu The Binh, Director General of the Traveling Department of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT), the Chinese government has stopped issuing papers for its citizens to cross the border to Vietnam since October 1, 2005.
It was explained that the measure was applied because Chinese gamblers had increasingly flowed into the country to play at three hot spots of gambling in Vietnam including Lao Cai, Quang Ninh and Lang Son.
This has resulted in a large decrease in the number of Chinese tourists visiting Vietnam. It is reported that for the first eight months in 2006 the number of Chinese tourists coming to Vietnam by road saw a downfall of as many as 250,000 people in comparison to the corresponding time of last year.
VNAT’s Vice Director Hoang Tuan Anh said that the two governments are still discussing the issue.
Currently only Chinese citizens, who live near the border are allowed to come to Vietnam with their papers specially issued to people in bordering areas. Also Chinese tourists who have passports can travel to the country.
Vietnam has set the target to attract nearly four million international tourists this year. In 2005 the number of Chinese tourists coming to Vietnam accounted for 30% of the total number of foreign travelers.
To achieve the goal, VNAT has outlined many different plans such as organizing trade and tourism fairs in the country’s bordering provinces from now to 2006 to pull in more Chinese tourists. VNAT also planned to increase the number of ships from China to Ha Long.
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