Tourism activities in all destinations across the country have become vibrant as summer comes, prompting localities to gear up various events for the peak season.
Ho Chi Minh City held the second Vietnamese 'Banh mi' Festival in mid-May and is about to organise the second River Festival from May 31 to June 9.
The south-central province of Khanh Hoa plans to hold the Nha Trang Sea Festival while Binh Dinh, another province in the south-central region, will host a series of summer tourism activities.
The Hue Festival Week in central Thua Thien - Hue province is to take place in June. Meanwhile, the Festival for Peace, slated for the same month, is expected to draw visitors from far and wide to the central province of Quang Tri.
Many new tourism products have also been introduced, including night tours at the Cuc Phuong National Park in the northern province of Ninh Binh.
The Vietnam National Authority of Tourism (VNAT) is stepping up tourism promotion domestically and internationally on its websites and social networks, highlighting outstanding destinations such as Can Tho - a city of canals in the Mekong Delta, Trang An Scenic Landscape Complex in Ninh Binh province, Hoi An ancient city in central Quang Nam province, terraced rice fields in the northwestern region, and poetic Da Lat city in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong to offer local and international travellers fresher, friendlier, and more attractive glances at the country.
The authority reported that in the first five months of this year, Vietnam has welcomed nearly 7.6 million international arrivals, a rise of 64.9% year on year and 3.9% from the pre-COVID-19 period. At the same time, the tourism sector has served 52.5 million domestic travellers. Tourism earnings are estimated at 352.2 trillion VND (13.83 billion USD).
The Republic of Korea remained the largest market for Vietnamese tourism during the period with 1.9 million visitors, accounting for 25.7% of the total foreign arrivals, followed by China, 21.2%.
Strong growth has been seen in the number of tourists from Asia (73%) and Europe (57.1%) thanks to the favourable visa policy applied since August 15 last year, the VNAT said.
