Vietnam enjoys growing tourism contribution to GDP

The direct contribution of tourism to Vietnam’s GDP was nearly VND279.3 trillion (US$12.57 billion), or 6.6 percent of GDP, ranking 40 th among 184 nations in the world.

Foreign visitors at the One-Pillar Pagoda in Hanoi

The figures were released by the World Travel and Tourism Council in its 2015 report on the economic impact of tourism in 184 nations.

In 2015, the total contribution of the tourism sector to Vietnam’s GDP hit 584.88 trillion VND (26.32 billion USD), accounting for 13.9 percent.

The sector also created 6,035,500 jobs, accounting for 11.2 percent of total employment, including 2,783,000 direct jobs, or 5.2 percent.

Vietnam earned VND 213.39 trillion (US$ 9.6 billion) from international visitor exports, accounting for 5.6 percent of the total export value.

Last year, Vietnam welcomed 7.94 million foreign visitors, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO).

Investment in the sector also reached VND 113.50 trillion (USD$ 5.1 billion), or 10.4 percent of the year’s total investment.

VNA