According to the General Statistics Office, the number of international visitors to Vietnam in March reached almost 6 million, a 78.6% increase compared to the same period last year, thanks to favorable visa policies, tourism stimulus programs, and the joint efforts of the government and tourism businesses.
The number of visitors exceeded 4.6 million, a 72% increase compared to the same period in 2023 and a 3.2% increase compared to the same period in 2019.
In the first quarter of 2024, Asia remained Vietnam’s largest visitor source with more than 3.52 million arrivals, accounting for 75.8%. Korea continued to lead the market, sending the most visitors to Vietnam in the first 3 months, with more than 1.2 million visits, a 150% increase compared to the same period last year.
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| The number of visitors reached more than 4.6 million, a 72% increase compared to the same period in 2023 and a 3.2% increase compared to the same period in 2019. Photo: Linh Huynh |
Mainland China ranked second, with nearly 890,000 visits, a 6.4-fold increase compared to 2023. The top 10 markets sending visitors to Vietnam in the first 3 months of the year included Japan, Taiwan, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, India, the US, and Australia.
Most visitors entered Vietnam by air, with more than 3.9 million arrivals in the first quarter of this year. Visitors arriving by sea reached more than 136,000, and by land nearly 630,000, both increasing from 1.6 to 4 times compared to the same period last year.
The number of Vietnamese leaving the country in March reached nearly 548,000, an increase of almost 43% compared to the same period last year. In the first quarter, the number of Vietnamese visitors abroad reached 1.2 million, an 11.5% increase compared to the same period in 2023.
According to the General Statistics Office’s assessment, the tourism industry should create more distinctive tourism products to attract and retain visitors for longer stays.
Furthermore, according to the General Statistics Office, tourism and trade promotion activities contributed to a 6.12% growth in the service sector in the first quarter of the year, accounting for more than 52.2% of GDP.
