Vietnam tourism earns $21B in first year of reopening

By Hoang Phong December 29, 2022 | 08:28 pm PT

Foreign tourists look at historical photos displayed along a street in downtown HCMC, December 2022. Photo by VnExpress/Quynh Tran

Tourism revenues this year after opening the borders and lifting most Covid restrictions were VND495 trillion (US$21 billion), exceeding the target by 23%, according to the General Statistics Office.

It was equivalent to 66% of revenues in 2019, the year before Covid struck, of $31 billion, or 12% of GDP.

Vietnam this year only received 3.6 million foreign tourists, or 70% of the target, but domestic tourism was a bright spot even surpassing pre-pandemic levels with 101 million travelers.

Despite falling short this year, the tourism industry has set a target of eight million foreign tourists for next year.

It expects to earn revenues of VND650 trillion ($27.3 billion).

Vietnam opened its borders in March, becoming one of the first Southeast Asian countries to fully reopen to international tourism.