Vietnam welcomed 11.6 million foreign tourist arrivals in the first 11 months of this year, up 27 percent against the same period last year. 


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Foreign tourists on the The Huc bridge by Hoan Kiem Lake in Hanoi's downtown


In the period, the number of visitors from Asia enjoyed a year-on-year rise of 32.6 percent, in which tourists from key markets saw growth, such as China (44.9 percent), the Republic of Korea (55.3 percent), Japan (7.7 percent), and China’s Taiwan (20.9 percent).

Meanwhile, the number of visitors from Europe increased by 17 percent compared with that of the same period last year, with Russia reporting the highest rate at 34.8 percent.

In November alone, Vietnam served 1.17 million international visitors, up 14.4 percent year-on-year. This was the eighth month Vietnam had welcomed over 1 million foreign tourists a month.

Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyen Ngoc Thien said on November 28 that the number of foreign tourists to Vietnam may hit 12.8 million this year, or a 28-percent increase in comparison with that of last year.-VNA