Friday, 30/12/2016 10:41 (GMT+7)
Foreign tourist arrivals to Vietnam in December reached an estimated 879,000, a year-on-year increase of 18%, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO).
Photo for illustration
This figure contributed to bring the total number of foreigners to the country in 2016 to more than 10 million, up 26% over a year earlier.
The majority of those visited Vietnam by air with 8.26 million, up 31.7% against last year, and those by sea recorded high growth of 67.7% to reach nearly 285,000. Meanwhile, foreigner arrivals by road decreased 2.3% with over 1.467 million.
China, the Republic of Korea and Japan continue to be the three biggest markets sending tourists to Vietnam with nearly half of the total.
Specifically, Chinese tourists to Vietnam posted nearly 2.7 million, up 51.4%, while travellers from the Republic of Korea and Japan were 1.54 million and 0.74 million, up 38.7% and 10.3%, respectively.
According to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, the tourism sector served 62 million domestic visitors. Total tourism turnover reached about VND400 trillion, up 18.6% against last year.
In 2017, the country strives to greet 11.5 million foreigners and provide services to 66 million domestic visitors, grossing a turnover of VND460 trillion./.
BTA