Chinese Overtake Russians In Mui Ne

Mui Ne, long a stronghold for Russian tourists has been attracting a different set of international visitors in recent months – Chinese.

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Of the 258,200 foreign tourists who visited Binh Thuan Province (where Mui Ne is located) this year, 20% were Chinese and 16.5% Russian, reports Thanh Nien, citing an official provincial report.

Other nationalities visiting the coastal enclave were from South Korea, the UK, the US, France, Australia, Germany, the Netherlands, Canada and others.

Unlike their Russian counterparts, however, Chinese tourists stray from the town’s beaches, instead opting for sightseeing, Tran Van Binh, deputy chairman of the Binh Thuan Tourism Association told the paper.

The drop in Russian visitors began last year when the Binh Thuan Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism reported that their numbers had fallen 28% from January to April.

In May, the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism blamed a decrease in Russian and Chinese tourists for 13 consecutive months of declining international arrivals, a trend that was finally reversed last month.

[Photo via Chris Ford]