Accordingly, tourists arriving by air reached 7.4 million, accounting for 83.8% of the total number of international visitors to Vietnam and an increase of 51.6% over the same period in 2023. Next, visitors arriving by road reached nearly 1.3 million, accounting for 14.3% of the total number of visitors and an increase of 99% over the same period last year. Visitors arriving by sea only reached 164.9 thousand, accounting for 1.9% of the total number of visitors and an increase of 199.5% over the same period last year.
In the first 6 months of 2024, our country welcomed a total of more than 8.83 million visitors. This number increased by 58.4% over the same period last year and increased by 4.1% over the same period in 2019 - the time when the Covid-19 pandemic had not yet occurred.
Vietnam is blessed with majestic beauty that attracts many international visitors.
The highlight of the tourism industry in the first half of the year was a series of tourism promotion activities abroad implemented by the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. Notably, the success of a series of programs promoting Vietnamese tourism in Australia, France, Germany, Italy, etc.
In the domestic market, tourism activities are taking place vigorously nationwide with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism launching the domestic tourism stimulus program "Vietnamese people travel to Vietnam - Vietnam I love". Responding to this program, localities and businesses have launched a series of attractive stimulus packages, organized diverse and unique events and festivals to attract tourists.
The domestic tourism stimulus program "Vietnamese people travel to Vietnam - Vietnam I love" is a successful program with great influence.
In the first 6 months of the year, South Korea was Vietnam's largest international tourist market with 2.28 million arrivals. China ranked second with nearly 1.9 million arrivals. The remaining markets in the top 10 included Taiwan (China), Japan, the US, Australia, India, Malaysia, Cambodia and Thailand.
In 2023, South Korea will also be Vietnam's largest international tourist market with 3.6 million visitors. Conversely, Vietnam is also Korea's leading source market in Southeast Asia with about 420,000 visitors.
With 8.8 million international arrivals in 6 months, the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism believes that the tourism industry will soon achieve its target. Along with the momentum from the open visa policy, it is expected that in the second half of 2024, the number of international arrivals to Vietnam will continue to grow dramatically, completing the target of welcoming 17-18 million international arrivals that was previously set.
Thanks to the current growth momentum and open visa policies, international arrivals will increase in the second half of 2024. Faraway markets such as Europe, the US, and Australia will send large numbers of visitors during the cold season, because they have long winter vacations and tend to travel to avoid the cold. In the coming time, the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism will continue to implement a series of programs to promote Vietnamese tourism in Russia, South Korea, etc.
