The above figure rose 1.9 percent against the number recorded ove the same period in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic broke out.

South Korea remained the top source of tourists with 2.59 million, followed by China (2.1 million), Chinese Taipei (731,000), the U.S. (478,000), and Japan (380,000).

Regarding means of transport, 8.4 million foreigners travelled to Viet Nam by air, around 1.4 million by road, and the remainder by sea.

Asia was the largest tourist source with over 7.9 million arrivals, up 57.1 percent year on year. This was followed by Europe with 1.62 million arrivals, up 47.3 percent, the Americas with 610,200 arrivals, up 19.7 percent, Oceania with 309,000 arrivals, up 27.3 percent; and Africa with 29,200 arrivals, up 98.5 percent.

In July, Viet Nam greeted 1.15 million foreign visitors, down 11 percent against the same period last yea due to the low season for international tourism.

The number of international visitors has increased strongly thanks to the effectiveness of favorable visa policies, along with the tourism promotion stimulus program which has been put in place.

In the rest of the year, the Viet Nam National Authority of Tourism will continue to deploy tourism promotion program in other foreign countries namely China, India, Australia and New Zealand.

The GSO anticipates that future growth momentum will be maintained over the coming months towards meeting the set goal of welcoming 18 million foreign tourists by the end of the year./.