Fearful travelers divert to safe Vietnam

Fearful travelers divert to safe Vietnam

Christina Toh-Pantin, Reuters, Ho Chi Minh City

It's a good time to be a hotel operator in communist Vietnam's
biggest city.

A multinational company had been planning a meeting in Bali
drawing participants from around the world. Then came the bombing
in the Indonesian resort in October, killing more than 180
people, many of them tourists.

The company decided to shift its plans to Bangkok. That became
a problem after several Western countries issued travel warnings
on possible similar Muslim militant attacks in Thailand and
several other Southeast Asian nations.

Finally, the organizers looked to Vietnam.

They aren't alone in their choice. Ho Chi Minh City, still
known by its pre-independence name of Saigon, is cashing in on
the perception that Vietnam is one of the safest travel venues in
a region jittery about further terror attacks.

The suicide bombing of an Israeli-owned hotel in Kenya and
attempted downing of an Israeli chartered flight on Thursday has
further deepened travel angst.

"Vietnam appears to be the safest place in Southeast Asia,"
said Bertrand Courtois, executive assistant manager in charge of
rooms at Sofitel Plaza Saigon in the southern commercial hub.

"The Japan leisure market is coming back very strongly," he
told Reuters in an interview.

European tourists who had already paid for tours in Asia to
countries such as Indonesia were rebooking to Vietnam rather than
canceling their trips, Courtois said.

Stephen O'Grady, general manager of the Caravelle Hotel in Ho
Chi Minh City, told Reuters he's had to turn customers away on at
least seven days this month.

"We look to finish the month at 86 percent (occupancy)," he
said. That compares with 65 percent in November last year.

The business crowd has been particularly robust, in part due
to a huge expansion in trade following last December's trade pact
with the United States, industry experts say.

O'Grady said that in addition to Vietnam's reputation as a
safer country, "it's a new leisure destination in people's eyes".

The travel industry was also reaping the benefits of
promotions by state-run Saigon Tourist and private groups such as
hotels and airlines, he noted.

Hotel operators say their bookings into March look healthy,
with O'Grady forecasting the Caravelle to reach up to 90 percent
occupancy in March 2003 from 81 percent a year ago.

Overall for Vietnam -- seen to be secure in large part due to
the tight controls the government exerts -- tourism is looking
rosy.

The country of 80 million with one of the most vibrant
economies in Asia expects to receive up to 2.6 million foreign
visitors by the end of this year, up from 2.3 million in 2001.

Of those, Ho Chi Minh City, home to seven million people,
should see a rise of 16 percent in international tourists from a
year ago, Nguyen Thi Lap Quoc, director of the city's tourism
department told Reuters.

"Vietnam has been voted as a destination of safety for
visitors and this is particularly impressive after September 11
and the Bali bombing," she said, referring to the suicide attacks
on New York and Washington in September last year.

But she said tourism officials weren't yet ready to hype the
safety aspect in promotions -- hotels in the bustling, traffic
choked metropolis still display pre-2000 banners declaring
Vietnam as the destination of the "new millennium".

"We're keeping the safety image in mind at the moment but we
haven't adopted it as a slogan," she said.