The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has approved a new tourism stimulus program for 2010 that will be officially launched Friday.
Under the "Vietnam Your destination" program, travel agencies and service providers nationwide will be encouraged to offer 10-30 percent discounts to both local and foreign customers.
Vu The Binh, head of the travel department at the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, said he expected to see "familiar names" of the industry in the program. His administration plans to spend VND1.7 billion to promote the program.
The government last year launched a similar national campaign called "Impressive Vietnam", which authorities found really successful in helping the tourism sector weather the global economic slump.
Foreign arrivals in the first two months this year rose 27.4 percent from a year ago to around 877,700, according to the General Statistics Office in Hanoi. Arrivals from many key markets increased sharply in the two-month period, with the number of Chinese tourists up 90.8 percent.
The country expects to receive 4.5-4.6 million foreign tourists this year, up 18-21 percent from 2009.