The visitors included 300 passengers abroad a Vietnam Airlines’ flight from Moscow and 250 passengers aboard an EVA Airways’ flight from Taipei which landed at the Tan Son Nhat International Airport at 9:35am and 9:45am, respectively.

The municipal tourism sector is expected to welcome 3 million foreign visitors this year, 300,000 visitors higher than the 2007 number. It grossed 24 trillion VND in tourism revenue last year, an increase of 45 percent from 2006.

Also on January 1, the Saigontourist Travel Service Company welcomed the first cruise ship of the year, the f ive-star cruise liner Costa Allegra with 1,350 passengers and sailors a board, at the Saigon Port.

Saigontourist had, by the end of last November, received 40,167 sea cruise tourists, representing a year-on-year increase of 159 percent.