More than 2.86 million foreigners visited Viet Nam in January and February, up 29.7% against the same period last year.

Floral decorations along a section of Da Nang's Bach Dang riverside walk are very attractive to foreign visitors during recent Tet (Photo: baodanang.vn)

According to the General Statistics Office of Viet Nam, Asian visitors made up the lion’s share of the number, at over 2.12 million people, up 35.8%.  The number of Chinese visitors, which accounted for 30% of the total tourist arrivals in Viet Nam during the period, grew by 38.5%.

The numbers of tourist arrivals by air, road, and sea during the 2-month period recorded respective annual increases of 26.3, 58.4, and 3.5% respectively.

The Viet Nam National Administration of Tourism said it aims to serve between 15 and 17 million foreigners, and 78 million domestic visitors by the end of this year, with total revenue expected to hit 620 trillion VND (27.28 billion USD), up 21.35% against last year.

Mr Vu The Binh, the Vice Chairman of the Viet Nam Tourism Association, said Northeast Asia, including China, the Republic of Korea (RoK), Japan, Taiwan (China), will continue to be the major sources of tourists to Viet Nam.  Last year, 4 and 2.4 million visitors from China and the RoK, respectively, visited Viet Nam.

With a growth of 30% in tourism in 2017, Viet Nam for the first time came on the list of countries with fastest tourism growth speed in the world, ranking 6^th.

(Source: VNA/ DA NANG Today)