According to official figures released by the General Statistics Office of Vietnam (GSO) on February 29, air travelers accounted for 84.2% of the sum, up 1.6 times compared to 2023, road and sea passengers made up 12.8% and 3%, respectively.
The revenue from tourism services is estimated to reach VND9 trillion (USD365.2 million ), an annual rise of 35.8%.
Vietnam hosted more than 3 million foreign tourists in January and February this year. (Photo: VNA)
In February alone, more than 1.5 million foreign visitors came to Vietnam, 1.3% higher than the previous month and 64.1% higher than the same period last year.
Experts attributed the result to favourable visa policies, stimulus programmes, and the efforts of the government and people in promoting and marketing tourism over the past time.
Starting August 15, 2023, Vietnam has officially issued electronic visas to citizens of all countries and extended the temporary residence period from 30 days to 90 days. Citizens of countries unilaterally exempted from visas to Vietnam, meanwhile, have their temporary residence period extended from 15 days to 45 days.
In 2023, the Southeast Asian nation welcomed 12.6 million foreign tourists, nearly 3.5 times that in 2022. In January 2024 alone, the amount stood at over 1.5 million, equivalent to the same period in 2019 before the pandemic broke out.