Vietnam tourism earns $16.5 billion in 2022: official

The tourism industry has been gradually recovering from the impacts of Covid-19 since reopening to foreign visitors on March 15, Ha Van Sieu, deputy head of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, said at a meeting held in Cambodia on Wednesday.

The World Tourism Organization named Vietnam as the first Southeast Asian country to fully open to international visitors without any Covid restrictions, he added.

At the meeting officials from Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand pledged to promote tourism recovery, facilitate regional travel and improve tourism capability.

Vietnam received over 2.35 million foreign visitors in January-October, less than half of this year’s five-million target.

In 2019, the year before the onset of the pandemic, Vietnam had received a record 18 million foreign visitors and earned revenues of VND750 trillion ($30 billion).

The industry hopes for revenues of $17.5 billion this year. It has been doing well in the domestic tourism market with over 86 million tourists recorded this year, exceeding 2019's figure.