Vietnam enticed over US$776 million of foreign investment into 17 major tourism projects in the first half of this year, newspaper Vietnam News reported Monday.

 

Over the past 10 years, the country's tourism and leisure sector has lured totaling US$4.3 billion of foreign investment with 182 projects, according to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT).

 

To develop tourism sector, Vietnamese government has poured over 3.5 trillion VND (about US$218.75 million) for infrastructure construction and upgrades at main national tourist sites and for the development of tourism in the central highlands, said the VNAT.

 

Tourism revenues totaled US$1.75 billion in the first six months of this year, the VNAT was quoted as saying. Vietnam has targeted to welcome over 4 million foreign visitors and more than 19 million domestic visitors with tourism revenues of $3.5 billion in 2007.

 

The country welcomed nearly 3.6 million foreign visitors and 17. 5 million domestic visitors in 2006, said the VNAT.

 

(Xinhua News Agency July 10, 2007)