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| A cultural exchange activity is held in Da Nang city to promote tourism linkage with the RoK. (Photo: VNA) |
Destinations including Phu Quoc, Da Lat, and Nha Trang are favoured by Korean travelers thanks to reasonable costs and diverse tourism activities.
According to the ministry, during the period, more than 1 million Korean people traveled from the Incheon to Nha Trang – Vietnam’s coastal resort city. In 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic, the city attracted more than 735,400 Korean visitors.
Meanwhile, the number of Korean visitors to Phu Quoc Island - which is considered "Vietnam's Jeju island", also increased sharply. In the first 11 months of this year, nearly 300,000 Koreans traveled on the Incheon-Phu Quoc route and more than 61,000 others on the Incheon-Da Lat route.
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| Hon Thom cable car serves tourists in Phu Quoc. (Photo: VNA) |
Korean and Vietnamese airlines also quickly expanded flight networks to meet the demand for travel to emerging destinations in Vietnam.
On December 24, the RoK's Jin Air launched its Phu Quoc-Incheon flights. Earlier this month, Vietnamese budget airline VietJet Air launched a new route from Busan to Phu Quoc island. Low-cost airline Jeju Air has also opened Icheon-Da Lat flights from December 20 with a frequency of seven flights per week, becomingthe first RoK domestic airline operating regular flights to the famous resort city in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong.
Flight connecting Cambodia to Khanh Hoa via China debuts
According to VOV, Cam Ranh International Airport in Khanh Hoa province, central Vietnam, on December 29 welcomed the first flight conducted by Cambodia Airways, transiting China.
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Welcoming ceremony for Cambodia Airways' first flight to Cam Ranh airport.
(Source: hanoimoi.com.vn)
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Flight KR9737 departed from Haikou Meilan International Airport and subsequently landed at Cam Ranh International Airport on December 29, carrying a total of 156 passengers on board.
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| Cam Ranh International Airport in Khanh Hoa province welcomes the first flight conducted by Cambodia Airways, transiting China. (Photo: Hanoimoi.vn) |
The Cambodian flag carrier will operate the Cambodia-Haikou-Cam Ranh route with a frequency of three flights per week.
Passengers will be able to fly directly from Cambodia or from China to Khanh Hoa and vice versa.
Vietnam serves 12.6 million international tourists in 2023
About 12.6 million international tourists have visited Vietnam this year, a 3.4-fold rise from 2022, surpassing the target of 8 million set earlier, VNA reported the data from General Statistics Office (GSO) on December 29.
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| About 12.6 million international tourists visit Vietnam this year. (Photo: VNA) |
The yearly figure, however, is equivalent to only 70% of the pre-pandemic level in 2019, the agency said, adding that in December alone, it stood at nearly 1.4 million, up 11.2% month-on-month, and 93.9% year-on-year.
Meanwhile, some 5 million Vietnamese travelled abroad in the year, two times that in 2022. During the final month of 2023, the number was estimated at 352,100, a rise of 23.2% from the same period last year.
Revenue from lodging and catering services this year reached 673.5 trillion VND (27.77 billion USD), accounting for 10.8% of the total value and expanding by 14.7% compared to the previous year.
The agency attributed the hikes to efforts by localities in developing tourism products, and cultural and sport activities, with Da Nang, Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Hai Phong, and Can Tho among those reporting increases in tourism revenue.
The Vietnam National Authority of Tourism said the 2023 National Tourism Year, hosted by the central coastal province of Binh Thuan under the theme of “Green convergence”, has wrapped up successfully, featuring more than 200 national and international events.
Binh Thuan welcomed a record number of 8.5 million holidaymakers in the year, and raked in 23 trillion VND from the sector, doubling that in 2022. It has been among the nine localities nationwide posting the highest tourism revenue, contributing to boosting the country’s tourism recovery and promoting the land and people of Vietnam to international friends.
The 2024 National Tourism Year will be hosted by the northern province of Dien Bien, marking the 70th anniversary of the Dien Bien Phu victory which played a decisive role in ending the resistance war against French colonialists.
With nine UNESCO-recognised heritage sites, including five cultural, three natural, and one complex heritage, Vietnam has won the World’s Leading Heritage Destination 2023 title of the World Travel Awards.
This is the 4th time that Vietnam has obtained the title, as it did in 2019, 2020, and 2022./.