International arrivals to Vietnam rose to nearly 700,700 during January, up 6.6 percent from last month, according to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

Of the travellers, the majority 80.2 percent arrived by air, an 8.2 percent monthly increase, with a paltry but increasing 0.98 percent arriving by sea. Those arriving through land transit declined by 3.4 percent from December last year.

Compared to 2014 same period, the number of tourists from the Republic of Korea grew substantially, soaring by 41.5 percent. Significant growth was also seen in visitors from Spain (30.6 percent), Finland (21.8 percent), Singapore (16.4 percent) and Italy (12.7 percent).

Meanwhile, figures tapered off in other markets such as Hong Kong, down by 34.1 percent; Russia, by 28.7 percent; and China, by 24.7 percent.

In 2015, the Vietnamese tourism industry has its sights on 8.3 to 8.5 million international visitors and 41 million domestic travellers, generating 270 trillion VND (12.8 billion VND).

The VNAT emphasised the sector’s intention to take full advantage of favourable conditions to overcome any challenges encountered in 2015.

The sector will focus on implementing the Government’s Decree 92 to create breakthrough for local tourism in the next stage as well as collaborating with relevant agencies and localities to boost tourism.

Last year, the tourism sector welcomed 7.87 million foreign vacationers and 38.5 million domestic holidaymakers, earning total revenue of 230 trillion VND (10.9 billion USD).

VNA