Foreign tourists captured walking around Hoan Kiem Lake in Ha Noi. (Photo: VNA)

Air travel remained the dominant entry mode, accounting for 10.4 million arrivals, or 85.1% of the total, marking a 23.8% rise from the same period last year. Land border arrivals reached 1.6 million, making up 13.4% and rising 15.8%, while 183,900 visitors entered via sea, representing 1.5% with an increase of 11.1%.

By source market, China continued to lead with 3.1 million visitors, equivalent to 25.5% of all foreign arrivals. The Republic of Korea followed with 2.5 million, or 20.7%. Other major markets included Taiwan (China) with 737,000, the US with 522,000, and Japan with 380,000.

Notably, arrivals from Poland and Switzerland surged by 44.8% and 15.8% respectively, thanks to Viet Nam’s short-term visa exemption policy under the 2025 tourism stimulus programme in line with the Government’s Resolution 11/NQ-CP.

According to the National Statistics Office under the Ministry of Finance, trade and tourism activities continued to show robust growth, helping raise total retail sales of goods and consumer service revenue in the seven-month period by 9.3% year-on-year. Accommodation and food services revenue increased by 15%, while travel and tourism services grew 20%.

Visitors explore the My Son World Cultural Heritage site. (Photo: VNA)

In July alone, Viet Nam welcomed 1.56 million international arrivals, up 6.8% compared to the same priod last year. Particularly, the number of visitors from European markets soared by 38%. Although July is considered the low season for international tourism, the growth was largely attributed to relaxed visa policies and successful promotion campaigns jointly run by VNAT and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in six European countries, namely France, Italy, Switzerland, Poland, the Czech Republic and Germany.