Socialist Republic of Vietnam

Washington, Jan. 6 (VNA) -- The New York Times on its article published on Jan. 5 emphasised that Viet Nam, which is a poor but orderly country, is becoming a safe haven for tourists.

"Viet Nam is now relying on its relative stability to draw security-conscious foreign tourists," after the fear of the Sept. 11 attacks in the U.S., and the Oct. 12 bombing blast in the Bali resort island in Indonesia, the paper said.

Tourism has been booming in Viet Nam over the past months with all hotels' rooms packed and most international flights to the country filled.

Many tourists and tourism industry officials agreed that they were interested in coming to Viet Nam as the country increasingly opens itself to the outside world.

As having various religions, with Buddhists accounting for the largest proportion of the 80-million population, however, Viet Nam has the absence of extremists, which assures foreign tourists of no worries about terrorism in the country.

Tourists coming to Vietnam registered a year-on-year 8.9 percent growth in 2001. In the first 11 months of 2002, the number of tourists rose 12 percent compared with the same period of the previous year, the paper said.

The growth in the hospitability industry has prompted the opening of new hotels. Viet Nam had built too many hotels in the boom of the mid-1990's, only to have some of them close during the region's financial crisis of 1997 and 1998.

Additionally, Viet Nam has been attractive to foreign tourists with many preserved old buildings which are located especially in cities like the ancient city of Hoi An in the centre and Ha Noi capital. Parts of Ha Noi still look very French, even the country's colonial rulers left about half a century ago.

"Viet Nam is continuing to grow in popularity because it's perceived to be a safe haven and a safe place to do business," Sean Hunt, who is general manager of the project to build the Sheraton Saigon Hotel and Towers and Executive Residences Complex in Ho Chi Minh City told the paper.