China surpasses South Korea to become Vietnam's largest source of tourists

By Hoang Phong February 5, 2025 | 08:00 pm PT

Foreign tourists visit Nguyen Hue flower street in downtown HCMC, January 2025. Photo by VnExpress/Quynh Tran

Vietnam welcomed 2.07 million foreign tourists in January, with China reclaiming its position as the country's largest source of visitors.

575,000 Chinese tourists visited Vietnam in the first month of the year, marking a 237% surge compared to the same period last year, according to the General Statistics Office.

South Korea, which had been Vietnam's top source of tourists since tourism reopening, fell to second place with 417,000 arrivals.

Popular destinations like Da Nang and Phu Quoc saw a sharp decline in South Korean tourist numbers in January, attributed to a growing fear of flying following the Dec. 29 Jeju Air crash that claimed 179 lives.

Cambodia emerged as a bright spot, becoming Vietnam's third-largest inbound market with 100,000 arrivals.

The U.S. ranked fourth with 92,000 visitors, followed by Taiwan with 91,000.

Rounding out the top 10 were Japan (72,000), Australia (66,000), India (48,000), Malaysia (42,935), and Russia (42,515).

Vietnam aims to attract 22–23 million foreign tourists this year, up from 17.6 million in 2023.