Foreign arrivals to Viet Nam surpassed 6.7 million in the first five months of this year, up 27.6 per cent annually, the General Statistics Office announced on Tuesday.

In May alone, the figure topped 1.16 million, down 13.5 per cent month-on-month. The number of Asian tourists hit over five million in five months, up 33.3 per cent while those from China was up 37 per cent, South Korea (62.1 per cent), Japan (6.6 per cent), Malaysia (12.5 per cent), Thailand (9.1 per cent) and Singapore (5.4 per cent).

Meanwhile, the number of European visitors rose by 11.8 per cent year-on-year, including those from Russia (up 9.2 per cent), France (13.1 per cent), the UK (9.6 per cent), Germany (8.5 per cent) and Italy (18.3 per cent). Visitors from America and Oceania were up 13.8 per cent and 12.1 per cent, respectively.

Major tourist localities saw a surge in tourist arrivals. The central city of Da Nang welcomed over 3.2 million visitors, up 30.4 per cent year-on-year, including more than 1.35 million foreigners, or a rise of 51.3 per cent. The central province of Khanh Hoa served more than 2.44 million holidaymakers in the period, marking a 20.75 per cent rise, over 1.17 million of them were foreigners, surging nearly 50 per cent.

In May, the Viet Nam National Administration of Tourism and the Japanese embassy in Viet Nam held a seminar to boost exchange of tourists between the two countries. Last year, around 800,000 Japanese people arrived in Viet Nam while 300,000 Vietnamese landed in Japan.

At present, almost all Viet Nam’s lodging facilities and flight services could serve Japanese visitors, even during the peak season. However, Viet Nam still lacks tour guides proficient in Japanese, especially in the central region. Moreover, Japanese tourists often stay in Viet Nam for short time so Viet Nam’s tourism sector needs to offer new products to satisfy their demand. The Viet Nam Society of Travel Agents proposed Japan loosen its visa policy, especially for groups of tourists from major travel agencies. — VNS