Việt Nam sees record number of int’l tourists in November, total hits 11.2 million

Foreign visitors on a cyclo tour in Hà Nội’s Old Quarter. — VNA/VNS Photo Minh Quyết

HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam served over 1.23 million international tourists in November, up 11 per cent month-on-month, the record monthly number in 2023, according to the Việt Nam National Authority of Tourism (VNAT).

In the first 11 months of 2023, the country has received a total of 11.2 million foreign arrivals, 3.8 times higher than the figure recorded in the same period last year, but this is just equal to 68.9 per cent of the figure in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic broke out. Of the total, visitors travelling by air accounted for 87.3 per cent.

The VNAT said the Republic of Korea (RoK) maintained its position as the largest tourist market of Việt Nam in the Jan-November period with 3.2 million arrivals, accounting for 28.5 per cent. It was followed by China and Taiwan (China).

Meanwhile, Thailand, Malaysia and Cambodia; and the UK, France and Germany were respectively the top markets in Southeast Asia and Europe.

In November 2023, the number of European arrivals witnessed the strongest growth among the continents, up 58.5 per cent compared to the previous month. The number of Chinese visitors continued to maintain a growth of nearly 10 per cent.

The majority of the visitors – 9.8 million – came to Việt Nam by air (87.3 per cent). 1.3 million visitors, or 11.9 per cent of the total, came by road, while visitors by sea routes reached 87,900, or 0.8 per cent of the total.

Statistics from the General Statistics Office (GSO), Việt Nam raked in an estimated VNĐ34 trillion (US$1.4 billion) from tourism activities in the reviewed period, up 50.5 per cent year-on-year.

The US travel site – Travel Off Path also has run an article stating four reasons why Việt Nam is increasingly becoming a favourite destination for “digital nomads”, including the new visa policy which took effect on August 15, 2023.

Since early 2023, localities nationwide have actively offered many tourism products and cultural and sports activities to stimulate tourism demand.

Notably, Hà Nội has launched 15 night tourism products to promote the advantages of night services, contributing to promoting the city’s socioeconomic development. — VNS