In February, Vietnam welcomed over 1.5 million international visitors, continuing to increase compared to the previous month. It is noteworthy that Chinese tourists have shown a strong resurgence.
According to the report from the General Statistics Office, thanks to the effectiveness of favorable visa policies, tourism stimulus programs, as well as the efforts of the tourism industry, localities, and businesses, the number of international visitors to Vietnam in February reached over 1.53 million arrivals, up 1.3% from the previous month and up 64.1% compared to the same period last year.
In total for the first two months of 2024, international arrivals to Vietnam reached over 3 million, up 68.7% compared to the same period last year and equal to 98.5% compared to the same period in 2019 – the year before the Covid-19 pandemic (with nearly 3.09 million arrivals).
Out of the total of over 3 million international arrivals to Vietnam in the first two months of the year, the most impressive growth is from Chinese tourists, with nearly 300,000 arrivals in February.
Chinese tourists are increasingly searching for Vietnam tourism and the number of visitors is recovering strongly. Photo: Hoang Ha
In total for the first two months of this year, there were nearly 548,000 Chinese arrivals in Vietnam, up 758% compared to the same period last year. The reason for the significant increase is that in March 2023, the country reopened tourist groups to Vietnam.
Search data from the online platform Agoda shows that Vietnam is the preferred tourist destination for Chinese travelers in early 2024. The search volume from China to Vietnam during the Lunar New Year almost returned to pre-pandemic levels.
Chinese tourists’ interest in traveling to Vietnam in 2024 reached 95% compared to 2020 – the period before travel restrictions due to the Covid pandemic were implemented.
Among them, the top 5 destinations preferred by Chinese tourists include Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Nha Trang, Da Nang, and Phu Quoc Island.
However, in terms of total visitors, the Chinese market still ranks second, after South Korea. There were 426,500 visitors from South Korea to Vietnam in February, bringing the total number of South Korean visitors in two months to 844,000, an increase of 1.5 times compared to the same period last year.
In third place is the Taiwan (China) market with over 198,300 visitors; fourth is the United States with nearly 156,000 visitors, and fifth is Japan with 107,300 visitors to Vietnam in February.
Thus, in the top 5 markets for visitors to Vietnam in February, the total number of visitors from South Korea and China is significantly ahead of the number of visitors from the other three markets.
In Europe, countries exempted from visa requirements by Vietnam also recorded high growth in visitor numbers, such as France (up 35%), Italy (up 82%), Spain (48.5%), Germany (up 37%), Sweden (up 42%), Norway (up 41%), Switzerland, and Belgium, all up 36% in the first two months of this year compared to the same period in 2023.
@Vietnamnet
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Source: Vietnam Insider