Viet Nam saw 11.6 million foreign tourist arrivals in the first 11 months of this year, up 27 per cent against the same period last year.

During the period, the number of visitors from Asia saw a year-on-year rise of 32.6 per cent, in which tourists from key markets saw growth, such as mainland China (44.9 per cent), the Republic of Korea (55.3 per cent), Japan (7.7 per cent) and Taiwan (20.9 per cent).

Meanwhile, the number of visitors from Europe increased by 17 per cent, compared to that of the same period last year, with Russia reporting the highest rate of 34.8 per cent.

In November alone, Viet Nam served 1.17 million international visitors, up 14.4 per cent year-on-year. This was the eighth month Viet Nam had welcomed over one million foreign tourists a month.

Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Nguyen Ngoc Thien, said on Tuesday that the number of foreign tourists to Viet Nam may hit 12.8 million this year, or see a 28 per cent increase in comparison to that of last year. — VNS