Visitors travel around Hội An. May saw a record number of international tourists visiting Việt Nam. Photo tienphong,vn

HÀ NỘI — The tourism peak season may be over, but the number of visitors arriving in Việt Nam reached a record in May, according to the General Statistics Office of Việt Nam.

More than 1.53 million visitors landed in May, the highest compared to the same month in the past 10 years.

It was an increase of nearly 11 per cent compared to 2024 and nearly 12 per cent up compared to May 2019, the golden time of the national tourism.

Many CEOs of travel businesses said the number was smaller than April but it was still a remarkable statistic because the peak season for international visitors had finished.

That impressive number showed that Việt Nam was gradually becoming a year-round destination for tourists, instead of a seasonal one as in the past.

In total, 9.2 million international visitors came to Việt Nam in the first five months of the year, an increase of more than 21 per cent compared to the same period last year and 15 per cent compared to 2019.

Arrivals by air still accounted for a large proportion, with more than 7.4 million in the first five months. Arrivals by road reached nearly 1.2 million, the rest were by sea.

Mainland China was still the market sending the most visitors, followed by South Korea and other familiar names such as Chinese Taipei, India, the US and Japan.

Russia was the market with the highest growth, increasing 221 per cent, followed by the Philippines (over 200 per cent), Cambodia (over 160 per cent), and India (over 134 per cent).

According to the Office, favourable visa policies, attractive tourism promotion programmes, and various activities to celebrate major national holidays attracted a huge number of international visitors to Việt Nam.

In 2025, Việt Nam aims to welcome at least 22 million visitors, an increase of more than 20 per cent compared to the peak of 2019 (18 million). VNS