Based on the average annual growth rate of foreign arrivals, Vietnam, Laos and Papua New Guinea are expected to become the leading travel destinations in the next five years, according to the latest Asia Pacific Visitor Forecasts 2019 - 2023 report released by the Pacific Asia Travel Association.

Vietnam, known for its beautiful beaches, mountains, rice terraces, world heritage sites and low cost of living, is estimated to see the growth rate of foreign arrivals go up to 14 percent between 2019 and 2023.

This year, Vietnam is on track to welcome 18 million foreign tourist arrivals, up 15.7 percent from last year and the figure could amount to 30 million in 2030.

The number of international visitors to the country has risen continuously over the past three years, soaring from 10 million in 2016 to 15.6 million in 2018.

Vietnam plans to receive up to 20 million foreign visitors by 2020, earning 35 billion USD in tourism revenues, contributing 10 percent to the country’s GDP.

According to Mastercard, Vietnam has the second fastest growing outbound market in the Asia Pacific region, after Myanmar, with projected annual growth of 9.5 percent between 2016 and 2021../. VNA