Koreans, Americans lead foreign visitors to Vietnam in Jan-Nov

By Minh Nga November 30, 2022 | 01:52 am PT

South Korean children who are about to return home after a tour to Vietnam enjoy a lion dance show at Da Nang International Airport in Da Nang, September 2022. Photo by VnExpress/Nguyen Dong

More than 2.95 million international tourists have come to Vietnam in the first 11 months this year, and the majority of them are from South Korea and the U.S.

The General Statistics Office said almost 597,000 foreigners visited Vietnam this month, an increase of 39.7 times compared to a year ago.

In the period of January-November, more than 2.95 million visited Vietnam, which is 21.1 times higher than the same period last year but a drop of 81.9% compared to the first 11 months of the pre-pandemic year 2019.

The majority, or more than two million, are from Asian countries, followed by those from Europe, with 415,600, and America with 323,400.

South Korean tourists led with 763,877 visitors, followed by 266,087 Americans and 172,475 Cambodians.

Arrivals by air accounted for about 88.9%. Around 11% traveled by road and the rest by sea.

Accommodation and catering services are estimated to have pocketed VND536.3 trillion in the 11-month period, rising 56.5% against the same period last year, while tourism firms earned around VND22.9 trillion, up 4.1 times.

Vietnam targets to attract five million foreign visitors this year.

The country allowed limited entry to foreign tourists on tour packages from November last year, before opening up on March 15.

Apart from granting visa exemption to 24 tourism markets for stays of 14-90 days, Vietnam only issues a one-month single-entry e-visa to visitors from other countries.