International arrivals expected to reach 10 million in 2016

Tourists on Trang Tien bridge in Hue city. (Source: VNA)

Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam expected international arrivals to reach 10 million in 2016, a landmark for the country,  as the number of foreign tourists has surpassed 9 million so far this year.

According to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT), the 11-month figure represented an increase of 25.4 percent against the same period last year, and well surpassed the set yearly target of 8.5 million.

The number of local tourists in 2016 has reached 57.7 million and revenue from tourism in 11 months was 368.6 trillion VND (16.6 billion USD), up 18.6 percent from 2015.

China leads the top ten countries with most tourists to Vietnam with 2.48 million arrivals (a surge of 53.9 percent), followed by the Republic of Korea with 1.38 million (39.2 percent), and Japan, 677,000 (10.5 percent).

The number of UK visitors surged 20.8 percent to 235,557 in the period. The UK is one of five European countries benefiting from Vietnam’s 15-day visa exemption policy.-VNA