PAX International APOT.ASIA June/July 2014

Page 19

VIETNAM AIRLINES CATERERS which was previously known as Saigon. Tan Son Nhat International Airport operates from two terminal buildings —Domestic Terminal 1 and International Terminal 2. The new international terminal opened in September 2007 with the capacity of eight to 10 million passengers per year, giving the airport a total capacity of 15-17 million passengers per year. Planned for completion in 2022 is the Long Tanh International Airport. At the end of April the first phase of the new facility was submitted, with an estimated cost of US$5.6 billion.

Vietnam Airlines Caterers has been operating from its present location since 1993

Vietnam beckons tourists Airports such as Long Tanh are needed to sustain the country’s potential for tourism growth. At the end of March, Vietnam’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism reported that the country earned US$3.3 billion from tourism in the first quarter of this year. Over the three-month period Vietnam welcomed 2.3 million foreign visitors, which was an increase of 29.3% over the same period in 2013. The Ministry reported that 1.4 million of the tourists arrived in the country for leisure travel, while 403,800 visited relatives and 391,500 arrived for business. China topped the list of foreign tourists at 587,000, with nearly half of the tourists arriving from South Korea and Japan. From Europe, German tourists to those from Vietnam topped the list of travelers. Vietnam is well poised to take advantage of the burgeoning Asia Pacific tourism market, said a report from Business Monitor International. As travel to and around the region expands the company said the 7.2 million tourists that traveled to Vietnam in 2013 could increase to 9.4 million by 2018. Outbound travel from Vietnam was projected by the company 3.5 million last year and could surpass 6 million by 2018. “Vietnam is an increasingly popular tourist destination, gradually rivaling nearby Thailand, which is an already well-established beach holiday market,” said an introduction to the report.

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