The latest figures from the General Statistics Office show that an estimated 12.9 million international visitors arrived in Vietnam during 2017, up 29.1 per cent against 2016.

December saw Vietnam welcome 1.28 million international tourists, up 8.9 per cent against November and 42.2 per cent year-on-year. December saw the highest number of international visitors during the year.

Those from Asia grew 34.4 per cent in total, with tourists from China rising 48.6 per cent, South Korea 56.4 per cent, Japan 7.6 per cent, Taiwan 21.5 per cent, Malaysia 17.9 per cent, Thailand 13 per cent, and Singapore 8 per cent.

The number of European tourists reached 1.9 million, up 16.6 per cent, with those from Russia rising 32.3 per cent. Visitors from five Western European markets exempted from visas for 15 days increased significantly: the UK by 11.3 per cent, France 6 per cent, Germany 13.6 per cent, the Netherlands 11.7 per cent, Spain 20 per cent, and Italy 13.2 per cent.

Visitors from the Americas stood at 817,000, up 11.1 per cent over 2016, of which visitors from the US reached 614,100, up 11.1 per cent year-on-year. Visitors from Australia reached 420,900, up 14.3 per cent, and Africa 35,900, up 25.6 per cent.

In general, tourism activities in 2017 bore impressive results. The tourism industry has adopted many policies and measures to attract tourists, with promotions and the introduction of Vietnam’s tourism in key markets such as Australia, Japan, Europe, and ASEAN, visa exemptions for five Western European countries, greater participating at international tourism fairs, and the arrival of foreign tourism delegations.

VN Economic Times