Terrace rice fields in Phong Thổ District, the northern mountainous province of Lai Châu. — VNA/VNS Photo Quý Trung

HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam ranks fourth in the list of most Googled tourist destinations by Australians over the past 20 years, according to Google.

Japan took the lead in the ranking, followed by New Zealand and Thailand, Google said.

In July, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) also revealed that Việt Nam was among the top 10 most popular destinations for Australian travellers in July, with more than 18,500 Australians visiting the Southeast Asian country in the month.

Before the COVID-19 broke out in 2019, Australia was the ninth biggest source of tourists to Việt Nam, with about 383,000.

After both countries reopened their borders, the number of Australian visitors to Việt Nam has risen considerably.

Việt Nam earned some VNĐ394.2 trillion (US$16.05 billion) from tourism in the first nine months of this year, equivalent to 78 per cent of the figure recorded in 2019.

The Việt Nam National Administration of Tourism said the country welcomed over 1.8 million foreign tourists in the nine-month period, of which 1.2 million were recorded in the third quarter of this year, 2.5 times the figure in the previous quarter. — VNS