Asian tourists went up 27.2%, followed by a 19.5% increase in visitors from African countries, while the number of European and American tourists rose by 9.8% and 12.5% respectively.
In September, the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) held many tourism promotion activities in a number of markets to attract more foreign visitors.
Notably, events were held for the first time in Canada on the 45th anniversary of diplomatic ties, during which Vietnam’s new policies, destinations, products and services were introduced to potential travellers.
Currently Vietnam is issuing electronic visas to citizens from 46 countries, including Canada, which saw more than 33 million people travel abroad in 2017, ranking 7th in the world in terms of outbound tourism.
In Asia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Japan are the fastest growing markets for Canadian visitors, in addition to China.
Besides Canada, the VNAT collaborated with the US Travel Association and the Hanoi Investment, Trade and Tourism Promotion Centre to organise a programme to introduce Vietnamese tourism in Washington DC and New York.
The administration has determined that the US is a key source of visitors to Vietnam since it has always been among the top five markets with the largest number of tourists to Vietnam in recent years.
US tourists are known for their high expenditure and long stays.
Last year, the number of US visitors to Vietnam rose 11% to more than 614,000. In the first eight months of 2018, Vietnam has already welcomed 486,000 visitors, up 14.5% annually.
