Vietnam welcomes 1.87 mln foreigners, South Koreans in the lead

Vietnam welcomed 1.87 million foreign visitors in the first nine months of the year, up 16.4 times year-on-year, with South Korea and the U.S. leading the pack.

However, the number of foreign arrivals was 85.4% less than the same period in pre-pandemic 2019, the General Statistics Office (GSO) reported.

Most of the foreigners - 88.6% or 1.66 million - chose to fly in; while 11.3% or 212,477 entered by road and 0.03% or 494, took the sea route.

South Korea was the biggest source market with 489,434 arrivals; followed by the U.S. with 176,607; Cambodia with 104,961; and Japan with 96,378.

In September, 431,900 foreign tourists visited Vietnam, up 45.5 times year-on-year; and a 11.2% decline against August, marking the end of the peak summer season.

Vietnam fully reopened its tourism doors on March 15 with international flights restored after the Covid-19 pandemic was deemed under control.

Tourism revenues in the nine-month period reached VND18,262 billion ($765.2 million), nearly four times year-on-year, but just 55.9% of the same period in pre-pandemic 2019.