With visa exemptions, European tourists to Vietnam have increased sharply, surpassing the 11 million mark.

In November 2023, Vietnam's tourism sector welcomed over 1.23 million international visitors, an 11% increase compared to the previous month. This was the highest number of international visitors since the beginning of 2023, bringing the total number of international visitors in the first 11 months of the year to over 11.2 million.

According to the Vietnam National Tourism Administration, South Korea continues to be the largest source of tourists with 3.2 million arrivals (accounting for 28.5%). China ranks second with 1.5 million arrivals. This is followed by Taiwan with 758,000 arrivals. Tourists from the US rank fourth with 658,000 arrivals, and Japan is fifth with 527,000 arrivals.

The next three positions in the top rankings are all from Southeast Asia: Thailand (442,000 visits); Malaysia (419,000 visits); and Cambodia (359,000 visits). The Australian market ranks 9th (353,000 visits), and India ranks 10th (352,000 visits).

Notably, the UK, France, and Germany remain Vietnam's largest source markets for tourists in Europe.

In November, visa-exempt European markets experienced strong growth, achieving the best performance across all continents, increasing by 58.5% compared to October 2023. This growth was partly due to markets on the list of those benefiting from unilateral visa waiver policies allowing stays of up to 45 days.

Among them, the UK saw a 38.6% increase, followed by France with the strongest increase at 72.5%, Germany with 36.1%, Italy with 55.1%, Russia with 41.8%, and groups of tourists from Nordic countries such as Denmark, Norway, Finland, Sweden, etc., also saw strong increases ranging from 33% to over 84%...

The Chinese market continued its growth momentum with a 9.6% increase. The Japanese market saw a slight increase (+7.7%), while the US market experienced strong growth (+18.7%).

Markets in Southeast Asia such as Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, and Indonesia also saw strong growth.

Visa policies remain lenient.

Vietnam's tourism industry made impressive strides in the final months of 2023. However, these figures are still modest compared to the pre-pandemic period.

Recently, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism proposed adjusting the target for the total number of international tourists visiting Vietnam in 2023 from 12-13 million. This adjustment is an increase from the previous target of welcoming 8 million international tourists. Domestic tourists are expected to reach 102 million; total revenue from tourism is estimated at approximately 650,000 billion VND.

By 2025, the tourism industry is expected to fully recover to pre-pandemic levels, welcoming at least 35 million international visitors and 120 million domestic tourists. By 2030, Vietnam aims to welcome 50 million international visitors and 160 million domestic tourists.

At the national online conference "Developing Vietnam's Tourism Rapidly and Sustainably" held in mid-November 2023, experts argued that Vietnam still needs to continue facilitating international tourists in immigration management, e-visas, and the validity period of unilateral visa exemptions, etc.

In reality, despite the increase in international visitor numbers, many tourist destinations across the country are still experiencing low occupancy rates. Hotels and resorts have not reached their expected occupancy levels, even during the peak season.