Foreign arrivals amount to 8.9 million, exceed yearly target

Vietnam has welcomed 8.9 million foreign arrivals over the past nine months, beating the tourism industry’s set target of receiving 8 million, reported the Vietnam National Authority of Tourism (VNAT).

Foreigners excitedly discover a tour of Cai Rang floating market in the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho

September alone saw the tourism industry welcome more than 1 million foreign travelers. This is the third month in a row that Vietnam has received more than 1 million foreign travelers.

The Republic of Korea topped the list of major tourism markets for Vietnam, with nearly 2.6 million Koreans visiting the Southeast Asian nation in the reviewed period.

It was followed by China, with more than 1 million Chinese choosing Vietnam as one of their favourite destinations.

However, the number of Chinese holidaymakers to Vietnam has yet to meet the tourism industry’s expectations. The nine-month number only makes up nearly one third of the figure recorded in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic broke out.

Statistics show Chinese nationals visiting Vietnam from 2015 to 2019 saw a 3.3-fold rise from 1.78 million to 5.8 million.

Meanwhile, some markets in Southeast Asia recorded higher recovery levels than in the pre-pandemic period. Among them, Cambodia obtained a recovery level at 267%, Singapore at 106% and Thailand at 102%. In South Asia, India experienced an impressive recovery level, at 240%.

The VNAT has expected that the number of foreign travelers to Vietnam would rise quickly in the coming months as the tourism industry is now entering the peak international tourism season backed by the August 15 enforcement of the new visa policy.

VOV