Foreign tourists go shopping at the Bến Thành Market in HCM City. — VNA/VNS Photo Hồng Đạt

HÀ NỘI — This year Việt Nam has welcomed 954,600 foreign visitors so far, 10 times higher than the same period last year, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO).

The office reported that in July alone, the country received 352,600 foreign arrivals, up 49 per cent over the previous month and 47.2 times higher than the figure recorded last year, after Việt Nam fully reopened its tourism sector and resumed international air routes in mid-March.

87.1 per cent of the arrivals into Việt Nam come by air, 13.5 times higher than the same period last year.

South Korea is the largest market with 196,200 arrivals. In the top 10 markets, there are 4 markets in Northeast Asia, 4 markets in Southeast Asia, along with the US and Australia. Markets from Europe are recovering at a fairly rapid pace.

The country aims to receive up to 5 million foreign tourists in 2022, although the ambition is clouded by surging inflation worldwide, the Ukraine-Russia conflict, and China’s persistent zero COVID-19 policy.

However, the number of international tourists in the January-July period was down 90.3 per cent compared to the same period in 2019, before COVID-19 broke out.

In the period, revenue generated from tourism hit VNĐ11.9 trillion (US$509.85 million), more than double the revenues from the same period in 2021.

The revenue of accommodation and food services in the seven months of 2022 is estimated at VNĐ324.9 trillion, up 37.5 per cent over the same period last year due to the sharply increased demands for summer’s entertainment, leisure and tourism after over two years of COVID-19 restrictions.

The Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) cited statistics from Google showing that searches for Vietnamese tourism from other countries have risen. Searches for tourist accommodation in the country surged from 25 points in March to 78 points in May, 98 points in June and 100 points in early July. Meanwhile, searches for international fights to Việt Nam in early July also tripled that in early March.

Along with making good preparations for a national tourism conference that is slated for early 2023, the VNAT has been asked to strengthen tourism promotion activities abroad, complete the national tourism planning for 2021-2030 and build new tourism development models. — VNS