An estimated 1.59 million foreigners visited Viet Nam in February, a month-on-month increase of 5.8 per cent, according to the General Statistics Office.

This was a record high for foreign visitors in a month due to the festival season at the beginning of the year with many attractive events for international visitors, the office said.

In the first two months of this year, foreign visitors to the country were estimated at 3.1 million, a year-on-year surge of 8 per cent.

Of which, arrivals travelling to Viet Nam by air and road increased 5.5 per cent year on year to 2.4 million and 29.5 per cent to 611,700, respectively. However, arrivals to Viet Nam by sea fell 40.7 per cent to 54,900 against the same period last year.

Asian visitors reached 2.3 million, accounting for 75.2 per cent of total foreign visitors to Viet Nam in the first two months, up 9.4 per cent year on year.

Visitors from mainland China account for 889,900, the largest number of foreign tourists to Viet Nam but the figure was down 1.3 per cent year on year. Meanwhile, visitors from South Korea increased by 24.6 per cent to 772,200; from Japan 9.5 per cent to 150,800; from Taiwan 27.1 per cent to 141,000; from Malaysia 5.3 per cent to 91,500; and from Thailand 36.9 per cent to 80,000.

European arrivals are estimated at 461,500, up 4.6 per cent from the same period last year. Visitors from the Americas reached 208,600 people, also up 4.6 per cent, including 158,100 from the US, up 7 per cent.

But visitor numbers from Australia fell 2 per cent year-on-year to 88,500 in the first two months. — VNS