Vietnam welcomed 12.6 million international arrivals in 2023, with the Republic of Korea (RoK) and China being the largest source markets, according to the Vietnam National Authority of Tourism (VNAT).

Foreign visitors touring the Hanoi Old Quarter on cyclos (Photo: VNA)

The biggest group of visitors came from the RoK with 3.6 million, while a further 1.7 million arrived from China.

The VNAT said that the number of foreign visitors to Vietnam accounted for 70% of the figure recorded in 2019 – the time before the COVID-19 outbreak.

A good recovery was seen in the US, the RoK, Taiwan (China), Thailand and Indonesia, while upbeat signs came from the Europe, especially Spain, Germany, the UK and France.

China – a traditional tourism feeder market of Vietnam had a slow recovery rate of 30%, and Russia only 19%.

The UN World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) and the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) forecast that the global tourism is on track of full recovery in 2024, reaching the pre-COVID level.

International visitors’ demand continues to revolve, requiring countries to improve the quality of the tourism offerings and experience, they said, adding advanced technologies such as AI and digital transformation will speed up the formation of new challenges for the tourism sector.

This year, Vietnam eyes to welcome 17-18 million international visitors, and serve 110 million domestic ones. Total tourism revenue is targeted at around 840 trillion VND (34.6 billion USD).

Especially, the Visit Vietnam Year – Dien Bien 2024 with 169 national and provincial programmes and events is expected to bring new experience to visitors.

Last year, the country gained some 678 trillion VND in tourism revenue, surpassing 4.3% of the set target.