Viet Nam is striving to receive 15-16 million foreign visitors this year. — Photo baoxaydung.com.vn

The number of foreign tourists visiting Việt Nam so far this year is estimated at 14.2 million, up 21.3 per cent against the same period last year, the General Statistics Office said on Thursday.

In this period, the number of foreigners visiting Viet Nam by air and road rose by 15.3 per cent and 64.4 per cent, respectively, while the number that arrived by sea went down 11.3 per cent year-on-year due to the impact of storms Toraji and Usagi.

Tourists from Asia accounted for 77.8 per cent of the total, and rose by 25.3 per cent against the same period of 2017. There were increased numbers of visitors from almost all the main markets including the Republic of Korea (up by 46.5 per cent), mainland China (26.9 per cent), Taiwan (15.6 per cent), Thailand (14.3 per cent), Malaysia (13.4 per cent) and Japan (3.7 per cent).

The numbers of holiday-goers from Europe increased by 8.7 per cent, while visitors from the Americas were up 11.4 per cent. Oceania and Africa both saw 19.7 per cent increases.

Viet Nam is hoping to receive 15-16 million foreign visitors this year.

In November, the Viet Nam National Administration of Tourism carried out tourism promotion activities abroad, notably at the World Travel Mart 2018 held in London, the UK in earlier this month.

The tourism sector is preparing for the ASEAN Tourism Forum 2019 scheduled to take place in the northeastern province of Quảng Ninh from January 14-19 under the theme “ASEAN: The Power of One.”

Hosting the forum will offer a chance for the country to advertise its tourism to the region and the world. — VNS