HCM CITY — The average spending by tourists from China, the largest source of visitors to Việt Nam, is much lower than that of other nationalities, according to a report by the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism.

The 2018 Vietnam Tourism Annual Report said last year there were more than 4.9 million visitors from China, or 32 per cent of all foreign arrivals.

Without saying how much various nationals spent per day on average, the report merely said spending by Chinese was estimated at VNĐ94.7 trillion (US$4 billion), or 24.7 per cent of total tourism revenues.

A Chinese tourist thus spent VNĐ19 million ($818) on average during their visit while South Koreans, who made up the second largest number of visitors, spent VNĐ26.3 million ($1,100) each.

There were 3.4 million South Koreans, or 22.5 per cent of all international arrivals, and they spent an estimated VNĐ92 trillion ($3.96 billion), or 24 per cent of total tourism revenues.

The report said tourists from Australia, Russia and the US spent a lot of money on average and had lengthy stays.

Australian tourists accounted for the highest average spending of VNĐ36.6 million ($1,500), followed by Russians with VNĐ33.9 million ($1,460) and Americans with VNĐ32.4 million ($1,390).

Last year Việt Nam received 15.49 million foreign visitors, a year-on-year increase of 19.9 per cent.

The country’s top ten source markets were China, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, the US, Russia, Malaysia, Australia, Thailand, and the UK, which accounted for 83 per cent of all arrivals and 78 per cent of tourism revenues.

Last year tourism revenues were worth more than VNĐ637 trillion ($27.44 billion) with 60.1 per cent coming from international tourists and the rest from domestic tourists.

In the first half of this year Asia remained the largest source market for the tourism sector, accounting for 77 per cent of foreign arrivals in Việt Nam, according to the General Statistics Office.

Tourists from Europe and the US accounted for 14 per cent and 6 per cent respectively.

The number of international visitors totalled 8.5 million, up 7.5 per cent year-on-year. —VNS