Vietnam welcomed 890,000 visitors from South Korea in the first five months of this year, a 40 per cent increase year-on-year.

Visitors from the country have increased sharply over recent years, according to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism. In 2016, 1.55 million South Koreans visited Vietnam, representing an annual increase of 37.8 per cent. 

The country ranks second in terms of arrivals to Vietnam, behind only China.

South Korea has become a new target market for Vietnam’s tourism sector thanks to growing bilateral ties, favorable air routes, and Vietnam’s visa waiver policy for South Korean nationals. 

Vietnam took part in the 32nd Korea World Travel Fair (KOTFA) in Seoul earlier this month, to introduce sea, eco-, cultural, and city tourism to attract more South Korean visitors. 

Following KOTFA, a Vietnam delegation held a conference in Busan, South Korea’s second-biggest city, attended by 50 local travel agents.

The number of Vietnamese tourists to South Korea has also increased. The Korea Tourism Administration said that in the first five months of this year the total number of Vietnamese tourists reached 113,690, an increase of 29.3 per cent year-on-year. 

Mr. Nguyen Tien Dat, Deputy Director of the TransViet Travel Company, said that the number of Vietnamese visitors to South Korea is increasing compared to a few years ago, as tours are now 20 per cent cheaper and there are more cheap flights between the two countries.

VN Economic Times