International arrivals in Vietnam surge over 12-fold year on year

Of the international arrivals, 88% came to the country by air, 10.9% by road, and 1.1% by sea.

Revenue from tourism services went up 89.4% while earnings from accommodation and restaurant services rose 22.1%, the GSO said, attributing the increases partly to many holidays during the five months.

However, the number of foreign visitors in May fell 6.9% from the previous month.

Recently, Vietnamese tourism has continually been honoured by foreign media, helping enhance its attractiveness to international travellers.

Notably, Cat Ba of Ha Phong city has been given the second place among the 10 most spectacular beaches in Asia by Microsoft Travel; Ninh Binh province named among the world's top 10 best hidden family vacation spots to visit in 2023 by Canada’s The Travel magazine; and the North-South, or Thong Nhat (Reunification), railway listed one of the world’s most amazing train journeys by the Australian version of renowned travel guide book publisher Lonely Planet.

Meanwhile, Vietnamese fried spring rolls (known as “nem ran” in the north and “cha gio” in the south in Vietnam) and summer rolls (“goi cuon”) are on the list of 50 most popular appetizers in the world compiled by international food magazine Taste Atlas.

In May, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh signed off the Government’s Resolution No 82/NQ-CP on the main tasks and measures for accelerating effective and sustainable tourism recovery and development. It specified many groups of measures for developing tourism into a key economic sector so as to turn Vietnam into one of the 30 countries with the highest tourism competitiveness.