The number of foreign visitors to Viet Nam is well on track to top 9 million in the first 11 months, up 25.4% from a year ago and already surpassing the full-year 8.5 million target for 2016.

Foreign tourists enjoy a cyclo tour in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo by AFP/Hoang Dinh Nam

According to the General Statistics Office, foreign arrivals to Viet Nam in November are estimated to reach more than 926,000, up 14% from last month and 25% from last year.

China remained the biggest source of visitors with nearly 2.5 million traveling to Viet Nam so far this year, up 54%.

The second biggest market, South Korea, saw a 39.2% increase to nearly 1.4 million. It was followed by Japan, up 10.5% to nearly 680,000 and the U.S., up 13.4% to more than 500,000.

Japanese and South Korean visitors can stay in Viet Nam for up to 15 days without a visa. Other markets that benefit from the same policy -- Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Russia, Spain, Sweden, and the U.K. -- recorded increases of up to 29%.

New Zealand was among some of the fastest growing markets by expanding 35.4% to nearly 40,000 this year to date. Air New Zealand launched a non-stop service between Ho Chi Minh City and Auckland in June.

Viet Nam also reported tourism revenue of VND368.6 trillion ($16.2 billion) in the first 11 months, up 18.6% from the same period last year, according to the statistics office.

The country now expects the total number of foreign tourists for 2016 to go up by more than 22% from last year, to 9.7 million, with tourism revenue of VND400 trillion ($17.58 billion).

(Source: VnExpress International)