The first flight of Starlux Airlines carrying 171 passengers from Taipei (China) landed at Đà Nẵng International Airport on October 28, marking the resumption of the route after over two years of hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. — VNA/VNS Photo Trần Lê Lâm

HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam welcomed more than 2.35 million international visitors in the first ten months of this year, 18.8 times the figure in the same period last year, but still down 83.7 per cent compared with the pre-pandemic level in 2019.

The General Statistics Office (GSO) in its latest report said that the number of foreign visitors in October increased 12.1 per cent from the previous month.

Of the 2.35 million visitors, up to 88.8 per cent travelled by air, 24.9 times the number recorded in the same period last year, the office said.

Asian market constitutes the majority of the tourists, with 1.6 million visitors, up 15.5 times compared to last year’s first ten months. The number of from Europe hit 323,600 people (up 27.3 times), 260,800 visitors from Americas (up 60.4 times), 106,300 visitors from Oceania (up 108.1 times), and 7,900 visitors from Africa (up seven times).

Việt Nam completely reopened international tourism activities in March this year, and lifted all COVID-19 restrictions like requirements of COVID-19 vaccination certificates, negative tests, quarantine upon entry and medical declarations.

The tourism sector is working hard to lure more foreign holidaymakers during the peak period (which is in the latter months of the year, instead of the summer peak for domestic tourism) until April 2023, with India regarded as a promising market.

Tourism authorities earlier this year set out the target of welcoming five million foreign visitors in 2022, which means the current number of foreign tourists hasn't even met half of this goal.

According to Google Destination Insights, search volume for airlines to Việt Nam from India increased by 400 per cent year on year in early April alone, and continued to increase by over 3,000 per cent a month later. Since the beginning of June, this rate has increased at a stable rate of more than 1,000 per cent compared to the same period last year. The number of searches for accommodation in Việt Nam has also tripled since the beginning of April.

The central province of Quảng Nam, home to UNESCO-recognised sites Hội An ancient city and Mỹ Sơn Sanctuary, will organise a roadshow to promote its tourism in New Delhi in early 2023.

The 2022 Mekong Tourism Forum (MTF), themed “Rebuild Tourism, Rebound with Resilience”, took place successfully in Quảng Nam on October 12 with the participation of more than 250 delegates from Việt Nam and other Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) nations, as well as international tourism organisations.

With the success of the forum, Việt Nam showed its commitments to further working together with other members of the Sub-Mekong region to strengthen solidarity and coordination to boost the regional tourism sector in the new context. — VNS