Vietjet Air flying to Cambodia, Indonesia and China

The carrier is set to open a new route from Ho Chi Minh City to Shanghai, a major Chinese economic and commercial hub, beginning Dec. 1, with seven weekly flights.

The Hanoi-Jakarta route will launch Dec. 10 with four weekly flights on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday.

The carrier will also open a new route connecting Hanoi with Cambodia’s Siem Reap, home of the UNESCO world heritage site Angor Wat beginning Dec. 15, with seven flights a week.

The launching of direct new routes to major tourist hubs in Asia comes at a time when Vietnam has welcomed nearly 10 million foreign arrivals in the first 10 months and expects to welcome a total of 13 million by the end of 2023.

While Vietnam's main tourism markets in China, South Korea and the U.S. are still recovering below pre-Covid levels, Southeast Asia has become a more significant market for inbound tourism to Vietnam.

Cambodia is now Vietnam's fastest growing tourism market, with the number of visitors in the first nine months 267% higher than pre-pandemic levels.

The visa-free stay of 30 days that ASEAN member countries allow each other has helped Vietnam increase its popularity among tourists from Southeast Asia.

So far this year, China has been the second largest tourist market for inbound tourism, to Vietnam, with 1.3 million arrivals, after South Korea's 2.9 million.