Tourist figures rebound in July
More than 593,000 international visitors arrived in Vietnam in July, a rise of 5.1% year-on-year and 12.1% month-on-month, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO).
Despite this month's positive figure, the number of foreign holidaymakers still dropped 9.4% to an estimated 4.39 million in the first seven months of the year, GSO said.
During the review period, visitors from Cambodia fell by 43.9%. This was followed by Laos with 36.1%; Thailand (31.2%); mainland China (24.4%) and Hong Kong (14.7%).
A higher number of tourists arrived from the Republic of Korea (up 35.5%); Finland (15.8%); Singapore (13.4%); Spain (6.4%) and Italy (5.7%).
The Ministry of Culture, Sport and Tourism has granted visa exemptions for travellers from Belarus and five western European countries of the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy and Spain since this month.
According to VNAT Director Nguyen Van Tuan, Belarus citizens are offered visa-free entry for five years and travellers from the other European countries are given exemptions for one year.
Tuan said that annually, some 700,000 western Europe nationals visited Vietnam.
The figures were short of the potential, Tuan said, adding that the visa exemption was expected to lure more tourists from the countries to Vietnam.
The administration is hoping these moves will attract an extra 1.1 million arrivals from five western European countries in the next three years, up 50% from 2015.