Vietnam hosts 3.7 mln foreign visitors in 4 months, exceeds 2022 figure

Vietnam welcomed 3.68 million foreign visitors in January-April, up 19.2-fold year-on-year and exceeding the total 3.66 million in 2022, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO).

South Korea was the biggest source of foreign travelers in Vietnam with 1.07 million, up 37-fold year-on-year; the U.S. with 263,081, up 11-fold; mainland China with 252,136, up 11-fold; and Thailand with 199,634, up 51-fold.

However, the four-month figure is equivalent to only 61.7% of that in the same period of pre-pandemic 2019. The result was nearly 50% of the target of eight million this year.

For foreign tourists, aviation was the most popular traveling means with 3.27 million people, or 88.7% of the total; followed by road traffic with 372,900, or 10.1%; and sea routes with 44,000, or 1.2%.

The Vietnam National Administration of Tourism highlighted the achievements took place even as April is not the peak season for foreign tourism in the Southeast Asian nation.

Recovery of the Chinese market was attributed to the reopening of group tours to Vietnam from March 15, leading to 112,000 visitors in April, or a growth of 61.5% from March, the highest figure among all markets.

Meanwhile, domestic tourists reached 38 million in the first four months, including 10.5 million in April.

Overall, the tourism sector reaped a revenue of VND196.6 trillion ($8.38 billion) in January-April.

At the upcoming fifth meeting in May, the National Assembly, Vietnam’s highest legislative body, is set to issue a resolution on easing policies related to visa and departure-arrival in Vietnam, in a move to attract more foreign tourists to the country.

They include extension of e-visa duration from 30 to 90 days, issuance of e-visas to citizens of all nations and territories, temporary stay extension from 15 to 45 days for visitors with visa exemption, and others.