Before the year is out, Vietnam is on track to welcome its 10 millionth international visitor, a landmark achievement for the country’s tourism industry.
According to Saigon Giai Phong, international arrivals to the country have already surpassed 9 million, a 25.4% year-on-year increase from 2015’s 11-month figure.
If visitors continue to pour into the country at the same rate, Vietnam’s National Administration of Tourism believes the country will break 10 million, well beyond its target of 8.5 million visitors in 2016 and far beyond the 7.94 million international arrivals from last year, according to Tuoi Tre.
China, South Korea and Japan lead the country’s tourism arrivals with 2.48 million, 1.38 million and 677,000 visitors, respectively. In the last year, Chinese arrivals to Vietnam have grown a staggering 53.9%, while UK arrivals also jumped up 20% to 235,557 tourists so far this year.
However foreign visitors aren’t the only people taking advantage of Vietnamese tourism. Domestic tourist numbers have also climbed to 57.7 million. Both groups have contributed to the 18.6% climb in tourism revenue for Vietnam this year. As of November, Vietnam has brought in VND368.6 trillion (US$16.2 billion) in tourism revenue.
[Top photo via Noodles and Beef]
