The Vietnam National Administration of Tourism has issued a target of 18 million international tourist arrivals this year after seeing January arrival figures return to pre-pandemic levels.
According to a report by VietnamNet, there were more than 1.5 million international visitors in January, a similar number to January 2019 while representing a 73.6% year-on-year increase and 10.3% higher than December.
This, the tourism agency added, was aided by the recent implementation of unilateral visa exemptions for 13 European countries which extend the duration of visa-free visits from 15 days to 45 days. As such, arrivals from the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Russia all enjoyed strong growth in January.
South Korea remained Vietnam’s largest source market in January, accounting for 27.6% of all arrivals, followed by mainland China and Taiwan. Meanwhile, visitation from the Americas grew by 27.3% versus December, from Europe by 26.6%, from Africa by 35.2% and from Australia by 68.5 %.
Along with 18 million international arrivals in 2024, the tourism agency is also expecting 110 million domestic tourism trips with total revenue from the industry expected to hit US$34.4 billion.