Central Vietnamese city hits back at money-grabbing street pests

By Vo Thanh July 5, 2017 | 05:21 am PT

A buffalo cart moving past large tombs at the cemetary in An Bang village on the outskirts of the central city of Hue. Photo by AFP

The former capital has had enough of the constant pestering visitors are forced to endure.

Tourism authorities in Vietnam's central province of Thua Thien-Hue are working with local police to stop vendors, beggars and tour guides from pestering tourists and trying to rip them off.

In a recent case, the government was forced to step in to protect visitors from gangs in the Central Highlands town of Da Lat who had reportedly forced tourists to pay for unwanted products and services.

The direct order suggests that government officials are taking the problem seriously. It also comes amid multiple efforts to boost the tourism industry, which aims to contribute 10 percent to the country’s economy by 2020.

Official data shows more than 1.75 million tourists visited Thua Thien-Hue in the first half of this year, up 3.5 percent against the same period last year, including 609,000 foreigners, up 4.79 percent. The province aims to draw 3.5 million tourists this year and more than five million in 2020.