Foreigners take a photo at the Nguyễn Huệ Flower Street Festival in HCM City, which opened during the 2022 Lunar New Year. — VNA/VNS Photo Quang Châu

HÀ NỘI — The number of international searches on Việt Nam tourism is increasing, which is considered a positive sign for the industry in efforts to revive and regain growth momentum.

Analytical data from Google Destination Insights shows that searches began rising from early December and skyrocketed later the same month and in early January.

From the beginning of last month, the volume of international searches for Việt Nam’s aviation remained high. The increase rate hit 425 per cent on January 21, and 374 per cent on February 3 against the same period in 2021.

The search volume for accommodation also started to increase from the beginning of December.

People from such countries as the US, Australia, Russia, France, Germany, Japan, Singapore, India, the UK and Canada made the most searches for information about tourism in Việt Nam.

The 10 destinations in Việt Nam that draw the most interest of foreigners are Hà Nội, HCM City, Nha Trang, Phú Quốc Island, Phan Thiết, Đà Nẵng, Hội An, Đà Lạt, Quy Nhơn, and Bà Rịa-Vũng Tàu.

Experts attributed the upward trend to Việt Nam’s launch of a pilot vaccine passport programme to welcome foreign tourists back to Nha Trang (Khánh Hoà Province), Phú Quốc (Kiên Giang), Quảng Nam, Quảng Ninh, and Đà Nẵng City, and a communications campaign named “Live fully in Việt Nam.”

The country is set to fully reopen to international tourism after March 2022, once the country has completed its COVID-19 booster shot campaign, about two years after Việt Nam closed its border to most foreign arrivals. — VNS