More than 12.8 million foreign tourists are likely to have chosen Viet Nam as their destination over the past 10 months, up 22.4 % year on year, according to the Viet Nam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT).

Foreign visitors to an exhibition at the Temple of Literature in Ha Noi (Photo: VNA)

The VNAT recently said that the country has welcomed over 1.2 million foreign visitors this month, rising 17.6 % from a year earlier.

In the 10 months, it has seen increases in the numbers of tourists from most markets, particularly the Republic of Korea (48.3%), Finland (33.3%), China’s Hong Kong (29.6%), China (28.8%), and Denmark (16.4%). Although Africa is not a major market, the number of arrivals from this continent has risen by 19.7%.

Meanwhile, holidaymakers from Laos have dropped by 15.7% and from Cambodia down 8.1% compared to the same period last year.

Domestic travellers totalled 67.9 million between January and October, the VNAT noted, adding that the sector earned 505 trillion VND (21.5 billion USD) from tourists in total, up 21 %.

VNAT General Director Nguyen Van Tuan said Viet Nam aims to attract 15 – 16 million foreign arrivals in 2018. The fourth quarter is a peak season for foreign tourists, so if the current growth rate is sustained and there aren’t any sudden upheavals, the country will receive at least 15.7 million foreign vacationers this year.

To attract more foreigners in the coming months, the VNAT has organised a tourism promotion programme in Nanning and Shenzhen cities of China from October 22 to 27, he added.

In the national tourism development strategy until 2020, China is considered a key source of tourists. It has continually ranked first among sources of foreign travellers to the Southeast Asian nation, accounting for 38 % of total foreigners visiting here.

Tuan said the VNAT has also coordinated with some agencies to launch a smart tourism portal at www.dulich.vtv.vn so as to provide comprehensive information about Vietnam’s tourism and help users gain better travel experiences in the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

(Source: VNA)