Chinese tourists to Vietnam surge 42.9% in Q1

HANOI - Vietnam received nearly 1.4 million Chinese visitors in the first quarter of this year, or roughly 32.3 percent of the total international arrivals, seeing a year-on-year rise of 42.9 percent, the country's General Statistics Office said on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Vietnam welcomed a total of more than 4.2 million international arrivals, up 30.9 percent year-on-year, with the highest growth of 69 percent in the number of visitors from South Korea, followed by China, up 42.9 percent, and Finland, up 36.9 percent.

Of the international arrivals between January and March, roughly 3.4 million came to Vietnam by air, up 27.9 percent; 719,900 by road, up 53.6 percent; and 119,800 by sea, up 6.9 percent.

Meanwhile, nearly 3.2 million visitors were from Asia, up 37.6 percent; 645,800 from Europe, up 15.4 percent; 276,200 from the Americas, mainly from the United States, up 11.5 percent; 119,100 from Oceania, up 14.1 percent, and 11,100 from Africa, up 25.7 percent.

Vietnam plans to receive 16-17 million foreign visitors and 78 million domestic ones, and gain tourism revenues of $27.5 billion in 2018, according to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism.