Koreans top foreign visitor numbers in six-month period

The Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) reported more than 286,000 Koreans visited the country in June alone, marking an increase of 15% compared to the previous month and equal to 90% of the same period from 2019.

According to Huynh Phan Phuong Hoang, deputy general director of Vietravel, the short flight time is one of the main reasons for the increasing number of Korean tourists to Vietnam. Budget airlines also offer affordable airfares, with one-way routes from Incheon to Tan Son Nhat in Ho Chi Minh City priced at around VND2.9 million, equal to US$123.

Furthermore, the affordability of hotel rooms, an array of natural landscapes, delicious food, beautiful beaches, shopping opportunities, and various tourist activities, are all  significant pulls luring Korean tourists, she added.

Ho Anh Vu, head of Marketing and Communication Department of Banyan Tree Lang Co, shared that favourable weather is also a strong point for the Vietnamese tourism industry to attracts Korean visitors. Korean guests who enjoy playing golf tend to visit the country during the winter months as most golf courses in the RoK are frozen.

Besides the RoK, the other main source markets of tourists which also saw an increase in visitor numbers included the United States, up 51%, Norway, up 51%, Singapore, up 48%, Laos, up 25%, Taiwan (China), 21%, and the Philippines, up 10%.

Meanwhile, several European markets witnessed a decline in the number of tourists visiting the nation, such as France, down 41%, Hong Kong (China), down 37%, Belgium, down 33%, Italy, down 31%, Canada, down 31%, Switzerland, down 28%, the Netherlands, down 27%, and Denmark, down 22%.