Vietnam welcomed over 3.2 million Chinese visitors in the first 10 months of this year, enjoying a year-on-year surge of 45.6 percent, the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism said Monday.
The country is actively promoting its major tourist sites in Chinese cities and cooperating with local authorities to handle poorly-performing travel agencies, hoping to lure some 4 million Chinese tourists out of 13 million foreign visitors this year, said the administration under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.
Vietnam hosted a total of nearly 10.5 million international arrivals, up 28.1 percent on-year, with the highest growth of 53.9 percent in the number of tourists from South Korea, followed by China (up 45.6 percent), Russia (38.3 percent), Spain (20.6 percent) and New Zealand (17.6 percent).
Of the international arrivals from January to October, roughly 8.9 million came to Vietnam by air, up 31 percent; nearly 1.5 million by road, up 18 percent; and 204,700 by sea, down 8.1 percent.
Meanwhile, roughly 7.9 million visitors are from Asia, up 32.8 percent; over 1.5 million from Europe, up 18.1 percent; 671,200 from Americas, up 10.4 percent; 352,500 from Oceania, up 13.3 percent; and 29,000 from Africa, up 28.5 percent.
Last year, Vietnam received over 10 million foreign visitors, including 2.7 million Chinese tourists, posting respective rises of 26 percent and 51.4 percent.
