Viet Nam was recently listed among the world’s 20 fastest growing travel destinations by the United Nations World Tourism Organisation.

The Southeast Asian country ranked seventh with a growth rate of 24.6 per cent based on the number of foreign tourist arrivals in 2016.

West African nation Sierra Leone topped the list, seeing a steep rise of 310 per cent in 2016 over the previous year.

According to the Vietnamese General Statistics Office, international arrivals to Viet Nam in the first half of this year reached more than 6.2 million, representing a rise of 30.2 per cent over the same period last year.

Overseas arrivals to Viet Nam mainly came from Asia, which accounted for 72.7 per cent, followed by Europe (15.8 per cent).

Viet Nam has set target of developing tourism into a spearhead industry, targeting 17-20 million international tourist arrivals by 2020, earning US$35 billion and contributing more than 10 per cent to the gross domestic product. — VNS