International arrivals to Vietnam inch down 0.2%

The GSO said that international arrivals are projected to top 760,800 in December, up 2.6% against last month and 15% compared to the same period last year.

This is the 6th consecutive month Vietnam has recorded a jump in the number of international visitors since July, a rebound after 13 months of successive decline.

In 2015, foreign guests arriving by air increased 0.8% over last year, but those coming to Vietnam by road went down 6.5% year on year, mainly due to a drop in the number of visitors from China (down 8.5%), Cambodia ( down 43.8%), and Laos (down 16.6%).

In addition, those arriving by sea this year rose to 27.5%, mainly due to the 145% hike in December alone, the GSO said.

In terms of markets, international arrivals from Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, the Philippines, Thailand, and China were all lower than the same period last year, according to the GSO.

A group of foreign tourists are shown visiting downtown Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Tuoi Tre

The number of visitors from the respective countries were 227,100 (down 43.8%), 62,200 (down 9.3%), 114,000 (down 16.6%), 99,800 (down 3.5%), 214,000 (down 13.1%), and 1.78 million ( down 8.5%).

Meanwhile, arrivals from Europe will reach 1.36 million this year, up 0.7% over the previous year.

Visitors from the Americas are estimated at 647,700, an increase of 5% over 2014. In particular, arrivals from the US were 491,200, up 10.7% year on year.

Arrivals from Australia and New Zealand are projected to hit 341,400, a 5.1% year-on-year dip.

The number of visitors from Africa was 27,200, up 44.3% against 2014.

In recent years, thanks to the implementation of the visa exemption policy for citizens of the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and Italy, the number of visitors from these countries has been increasing.