The socio-economic situation report released by the General Statistics Office on September 29, shows that September 2023 recorded 1.05 million foreign arrivals, marking the third consecutive month when foreign tourist arrivals exceeded 1 million. Compared to August 2023, international visitors to Vietnam decreased by 13.4% and 2.4 times higher than the same period last year.
With the number of international visitors continuing to surpass the 1 million mark in September, during the first 9 months of 2023, Vietnamese tourism has welcomed nearly 8.9 million visitors, completing and exceeding the target of welcoming 8 million international visitors for the whole year.
However, compared to the same period in 2022, international visitors to Vietnam in the past nine months still only reached 69%.
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The Republic of Korea continues to be the largest source of tourist arrivals, with over 2.5 million in the first nine months, followed by China.
Taiwan (China) surpassed the U.S. (548,866) to become the third biggest tourist sender with 575,101, and Japan came fifth with 414,444.
Out of the 8.9 million tourists, 7.8 million arrived in Vietnam by air (87.5%), one million by road (11.8%), and 64,000 by sea (0.7%).
The majority of the arrivals were from Asia (6.85 million), followed by Europe (1.015 million), the Americas (682,800), Oceania (311,100), and Africa (20,400).
Revenue from accommodation and catering services in this period rose by 16% and earnings from travel and tourism services increased 47.7%year-on-year.
Some localities with increasing travel service revenue, in the first nine months of 2023, compared to the same period last year are as follows: Da Nang increased by 139.9%; Quang Ninh increased by 98.8%; Ho Chi Minh City increased by 91.3%; Hanoi increased by 67.4%; Hai Phong increased by 50.9%; Can Tho increased by 39.6%.
The fact that Vietnam has completed the year's target of welcoming international visitors in just nine months shows the efforts of the entire tourism industry to overcome difficulties after the pandemic. At the same time, it also shows the correct policies of the Government in supporting the tourism industry to promote recovery and increase competitiveness with destinations in the region and the world.
Experts and businesses in the field of tourism and travel expect that, with the Government's recent decision to loosen visa policies and the efforts of the entire tourism industry, the possibility of Vietnam tourism receiving from 10 to 12 million international visitors in 2023 is completely achievable.
