Foreign visitors watch a dance performance on Phú Quốc Island in southern Kiên Giang Province. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — The number of international tourists visiting Việt Nam is up by over 71 per cent, as the country welcomes back international visitors thanks to the resumption of international flights. 

The General Statistics Office announced yesterday that Việt Nam welcomed 49,200 foreign visitors in January and February, up 71.7 per cent in comparison with the same period last year. Foreign arrivals by air accounted for 87.8 per cent of the total number of visitors.

The number of tourists to the country in February increased 49.6 per cent compared with last month.

The tourism sector is preparing the necessary conditions to fully open tourism activities from March 15, 2022.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has sent an urgent message to localities nationwide to prepare to resume tourism activities.

The message asked local People’s Committees to issue plans to reopen tourism in line with their conditions and related directions; propose measures to deal with any risks emerging during the reopening of tourism activities; and disseminate information about the reopening of tourism safely and effectively following COVID-19 prevention and control regulations.

The departments will continue to implement programmes to promote domestic tourism safely; support local tourism businesses to invest in improving quality services and develop new tourism products to meet demand.

Provinces and cities were guided to increase tourism promotion programmes and linkage to co-develop tourism products between localities and businesses, as well as to organise events to attract domestic and foreign tourists.

Localities were advised to issue policies to support employers and employees to encourage them to take part in the reopening of tourism.

Authorised agencies were asked to establish joint teams to guide and instruct local tourism companies to resume tourism activities in line with regulations, and strictly punish violators.

The tourism sector has set a target of serving 65 million visitors, including five million foreigners, and earning VNĐ440 trillion (nearly $19.3 billion) in 2022.

Under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism's two-phase tourism recovery plan between 2022 and 2024, the sector is expected to attract around 8-9 million international tourist arrivals, equivalent to 45-50 per cent of the figure recorded in 2019, and 65-70 million domestic arrivals, equivalent to 75-80 per cent of the 2019 figure, from 2022 to 2023. Total travel revenue will reach an estimated VNĐ400-450 trillion (US$17-$19.6 billion), or 50 per cent of the pre-pandemic figure.

In the second phase, from 2024 to 2026, the sector is set to serve some 16 million international tourist arrivals and around 80 million domestic tourists by 2025, with total expected revenue reaching VNĐ780 trillion. — VNS