HANOI, 2 June 2017: Vietnam National Administration of Tourism estimates the country welcomed 972,844 international visitors in May representing an increase of 26.8% over the same month last year.

China was the top supply market with 300,531 visits improving 35.5%. Other top performers were South Korea, Japan, Taiwan and Russia.

Thailand in eighth spot recorded 24,763 visits down 2.4% when compared with the same month last year.

Neighbouring Cambodia slipped off the top 10 source markets posting 19,905 visits, but still increasing 6.9%, while Laos recorded 11,975 visits, also up 5.6%.

The bulk of arrivals in May (847,525) passed through two main aviation gateways Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

For January to May, the country welcomed 5,256,974 international travellers increasing 29.6% over the same period last year.

VNAT updated its data on its website, Thursday, sourced from the government statistics office.

Deputy Prime Minister Truong Hoa Binh said the tourism sector had enjoyed a good start in the first months of the year and the government hopes to see the number of foreign travellers increase by 30% this year.

“If the goal is reached, Vietnam will welcome 3 million foreign travellers more this year than targeted, giving us  13 million in total, which would be an impressive growth.”

Initially, Vietnam’s tourism sector was targeting 11.5 million international arrivals this year.

Last year, the country recorded 10,012,735 international tourist arrivals up 26.0% over 2015.

By 2020, the country forecasts 17 to 20 million international visits and 82 million domestic trips that will contribute an estimated 10% of the gross domestic product (GDP). Revenue from tourism will reach USD35 billion.

Source: http://www.ttrweekly.com/site/2017/06/vietnam-tourism-grows-26/