Vietnam saw 3.82 million international tourists arrive in the first 11 months of this year, down 76.6% year-on-year, the state-run Vietnam News Agency reported on Saturday, citing data from the country's statistics agency. Over the month, international tourist arrivals rose 19.6% in November this year, but are down 99% compared with November 2019.

Overseas travelers are crucial to the Vietnamese casino industry, as most places in Vietnam are not eligible for local bets. This includes Hoiana, a casino resort on the central coast of Vietnam. A preview of Hoiana's operations began on June 28.

The Vietnam News Agency reported in August that government data showed total revenue from existing casinos in Vietnam more than doubled in the past three years, from 1.19 trillion in 2017 ($51.5 million) to 2.5 trillion in 2019. Still, several properties are struggling financially, according to local media reports and some analysts.

In January 2017, the Vietnamese government issued a decree clearing the way for selected domestic casinos to receive bets from economically qualified local gamblers for three years. Since then, Corona Casino Resort, located on Phu Quoc Island in Vietnam's southernmost province, is the only real estate that has participated in a pilot program

Vietnam's international travel trade was halted in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the spread of the virus in the country has so far been under control, according to comments from the country's National Tourism Agency, which appeared in a Saturday report by the Vietnamese news agency.

The report referred to Vietnam's strategy to promote domestic tourism as foreign tourists have fallen significantly so far this year.

Vietnam reported 42.5 million "domestic travelers" from January to October, according to the Vietnamese news agency. The Vietnamese news agency added that the average hotel occupancy rate in Vietnam's main tourist destinations, Da Lat, Sam Son, Sa Pa, Ha Long and Phu Quoc, reached "30% to 50%" in October and could rise to 90% over the weekend.

The Vietnamese government portal reported last month that Vietnam reported a record 18 million foreign tourist arrivals in 2019. Vietnam's tourism revenue hit $36 billion last year.

Culture, Sports and Tourism Minister Nguyen Ngoc Thien said on Nov. 10 that Vietnam's tourism industry has lost at least US$23 billion in revenue so far due to disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, as cited by a Vietnamese government portal.

BY: 파친코