HÀ NỘI — The number of international visitors to Việt Nam in the first seven months of 2017 was estimated at around 7.24 million, a year-on-year surge of 28.8 per cent.

While arrivals by air touched 6.12 million passengers, an increase of 31.3 per cent against the same period last year; 945,886 visitors came by road (up 17.3 per cent); and the remaining 178,101 people arrived by sea (up 13.3 per cent), the General Statistics Office (GSO) of Việt Nam said.

Of these, around 5.36 million visitors were from Asia, 1.1 million people from Europe and 505,014 people from America, accounting for 73.9 per cent, 15.3 per cent and 6.97 per cent of the total foreign passengers.

China continues to rank first in the number of visitors to Việt Nam, with around 2.2 million arrivals, an increase of 51 per cent over the same period in 2016.

The GSO also reported a rise in tourist inflow from other key markets, with an increase of 49.3 per cent from Russia, 46.8 per cent from South Korea, 30.1 per cent from Hong Kong, 27.8 per cent from Spain, 23.6 per cent from Cambodia, 23.4 per cent from the Philippines and 20.8 per cent from Taiwan.

The number of visitors from Africa also went up slightly, with 19,973 people visiting, which is a significant 28.1 per cent rise compared to the same period last year.

In July, 1.04 million foreigners visited Việt Nam, a year-on-year increase of 21.1 per cent. It is the fifth month this year that international visitors to the country crossed the ‘one million in a month’ mark.

The country’s Political Bureau has issued an important resolution on tourism development till 2035, in which tourism has been identified as a leading economic sector that can drive socio-economic development. The nation aims to become one of Southeast Asia’s leading travel destinations by 2030.

By 2020, Việt Nam is expected to see 17-20 million international visitors and 82 million domestic visitors, and tourism is expected to account for 10 per cent of the GDP. Tourism revenue is forecast to touch US$35 billion by then. — VNS