Sonja Thurlemann, 66, a tourist from Switzerland, said she had heard much about Vietnam from her friends and visited the country.
She was particularly impressed with the food in all three regions and loved Hanoi’s old quarter, Hoi An and the Cai Rang floating market in the Mekong Delta, she said.
“Our country has many beautiful landscapes, but none as distinct as Vietnam’s.”
Thurlemann was among foreign tourists who came to Vietnam “because of love” this year.
According to the General Statistics Office, nearly 16 million people visited in the first 11 months of 2024, and 17-17.5 million are expected for the full year, 35% more than in 2023.
In 2019, the year before the pandemic, 18 million had visited.
The United Nations World Tourism Organization reported that tourism recovery in the Asia-Pacific region reached 85% this year.
Indian tourists on a beach in Nha Trang, central Vietnam, August 2024. Photo by Duc Thao |
Nguyen Van My, chairman of Lua Viet Travel Company, said referring to Vietnam: “Increasing from 12.6 million foreign visitors last year to 17.5 million this year is a remarkable effort by the tourism industry.”
Pham Hai Quynh, director of the Asian Tourism Development Institute, said: “2024 has been a successful year for the industry. Recovery to nearly pre-pandemic levels highlights Vietnam’s competitiveness and appeal.”
Industry experts attributed this growth to relaxed visa policies, improved infrastructure and increased promotional campaigns.
A wave of international celebrities, including U.S. tech billionaire Bill Gates and Dilip Shanghvi, India’s fifth richest person and the owner of Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, visited Vietnam this year.
Nguyen Tien Dat, vice chairman of the Hanoi Tourism Association, said the tourism industry’s success this year was largely driven by visitors from mainland China, Taiwan and South Korea.
They accounted for some 8.6 million visitors in the first 11 months, or 54% of all arrivals.
There was also a sharp rise in the number of European visitors, particularly from countries benefiting from visa exemptions such as Italy, France and the U.K.
Dat praised Vietnam’s visa policy as “very good” but expressed hope the government would further expand the list of nationals eligible for waivers, especially to include jurisdictions with high visitor potential.
Currently Vietnam grants visa waivers to travelers from 25 countries as against 162 by Malaysia and Singapore, 157 by the Philippines and 93 for Thailand.
Experts pointed out that the number of arrivals should not be the sole measure of success for the tourism industry, particularly when compared to the numbers some neighboring countries boast.
Thailand is estimated to receive 36 million visitors this year, double Vietnam’s number, while Malaysia surpassed 20 million as long ago as in October.
“We’re running, but other countries are running faster,” My concluded.
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