The recent report by the World Travel and Tourism Council has forecast the Southeast Asian country’s tourism growth will jump to 7.3 percent in the next ten year from 3.4 percent currently.

Vietnam’s tourism industry last year contributed VND 73.8 trillion (US$3.78 billion) to the nation’s gross products (GDP), making up 3.9 percent of the GDP.

It’s expected to achieve $15.9 billion in revenue in 2020, which will contribute 6 percent of GDP.

WTTC forecasts that the global Travel & Tourism economy will grow by 4.3 percent per year over the next ten years, implying its share of the global economy will rise to just over 10 percent.

This will help create an additional 66 million jobs by 2020 - 50 million of which in Asia - acting as a key driver of poverty reduction.

The longer-term prospects for Travel & Tourism remain positive, boosted by rising prosperity in Asia. WTTC remains confident Travel & Tourism will remain a dynamic force for wealth and job creation.

Another survey has shown that Vietnam is emerging as one of the top destinations thanks to its culture, natural scenery and affordable attractions.

The Asia-Pacific Travel Intention Survey, conducted by Visa and the Pacific-Asia Travel Association revealed that the tourists most likely to visit Vietnam next years included 17 percent from Thailand, 16 percent form Australia and 11 percent from Singapore and Japan.

Vietnam received a record five million foreign arrivals last year, an increase of 34.8 percent from 2009.

The country’s tourism industry enjoyed great success in 2010 with total revenues of VND96 trillion. As the economy recovered, the number of local travelers increased as well, reaching 28 million.

Vietnam’s tourism industry has plans to increase advertising activities throughout Asia and Europe.

The Vietnam National Administration of Tourism has pinned high hopes on these markets owing to high traffic from these regions over the past several years.

China and ASEAN are considered the largest per capita suppliers of tourists while Europe, Japan, and Korea supply more moneyed visitors.

The government has agreed a plan outlining the next six destination sites for National Tourism Years 2012-2017.

According to the plan proposed by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the central province of Thua Thien Hue will host the event next year, followed by HaiPhongCity and Lam Dong, Thanh Hoa, Kien Giang and LaoCaiProvinces.

Each year a province or city is spotlighted by the program, which was launched to promote the tourism potential of every site to international visitors.

Phu Yen and other coastal central province will be the focus of the program in 2011.