VOV.VN - The number of foreign visitors to Vietnam reached more than three million in the first two months of the year, up by 68.7% compared to the same period from last year, as announced on February 29 by the General Statistics Office (GSO).

Vietnam sees sharp increase in foreign arrivals in first two months of 2024. (Photo: hanoimoi.vn)

Most notably, localities received over 1.5 million foreign arrivals in February alone, marking rises of 1.3% against January and 64.1% higher than the figure recorded a year ago.

In the two-month period, Asia represented the country’s largest source of tourism with an estimated 2.3 million arrivals. 

In second was Europe with 426,000 arrivals, whilst the Americas made up the nation’s third largest source of international visitors with 202,000 arrivals.

The latest data released by digital travel platform Agoda revealed that the number of searches from China for Vietnam during the Lunar New Year had almost entirely recovered to pre-COVID levels, reaching 95% compared to figures from 2020.

Agoda also noted that this year Ho Chi Minh City was the most searched city by Chinese tourists, followed by Hanoi, Nha Trang, Da Nang, and Phu Quoc.

The statistics compiled by the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism also reported that in 2019, Chinese nationals represented the nation’s largest source of travelers, thereby accounting for almost a third of total travelers coming into the country.

Moreover, the expanded visa exemption policy to cover more countries also helped Vietnam to develop its tourism industry by creating favourable conditions for tourists to enter the country.