Hanoi, Feb. 15 -- The General Statistics Office forecast the number of foreign tourists to Vietnam at 644,000 in the first quarter, declining by about 800,000 compared to the non-Covid scenario.
The office said if the epidemic lasts through Q1, the country could suffer losses of about 2.3 billion USD in revenue from foreign tourists.
Nha Trang city in the southern central province of Khanh Hoa is predicted to be hardest affected as Chinese visitors account for the largest proportion of foreign arrivals there, over 70 percent in 2019.
Meanwhile, many meetings and conferences have also been delayed to contain the disease spread, leading to a considerable decline in MICE tourists in big cities like Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.
The statistic...