HANOI, 8 January 2024: Vietnam’s tourist arrivals for 2023 peaked at 12.6 million, 3.5 times higher than recorded in 2022, the Tourism Information Technology Center reported last week.
Based on independent data compiled by the General Statistics Office, international tourist arrivals steadily increased. Each of the last six months of 2023 gained over 1 million visitor arrivals, while December peaked at 1.37 million.
Korea top source market
Korea was the top source market in 2023, with nearly 3.6 million arrivals (28% of all visitors). In second place, Chinese visits reached 1.7 million. Korea and China accounted for 42% of international visitor arrivals to Vietnam. In third place, Taiwan generated 851,000 arrivals, the US 717,000 (4th); and Japan 590,000 (5th).
Thailand supplied 489,000 visitors (6th); Malaysia 470,000 (7th); Cambodia (402,000 (8th); India 392,000 (9th); Australia 390,000 (10th).
The top source markets in Europe were the UK, 253,000; France, 215,000; and Germany, 200,000.
Compared with 2019 trends, Russia and the UK dropped off the top 10 source markets list, replaced by Cambodia and India.
Some large markets showed strong recovery trends, such as the US (96%), Korea (84%), Taiwan (92%), Thailand (96%), and Indonesia (99%). Some Southeast Asian markets are even higher than levels recorded before the pandemic — Cambodia (176%); Laos (122%); Singapore (106%). In South Asia, the Indian market also had an impressive recovery (231%).
Optimistic signals also came from the main markets in Europe: Spain recovered 91%, Germany 88%, the UK 80%, and France 75%.
Traditionally, China, the top source market, performed below expectations, reaching a 30% recovery rate. Before the pandemic, the Chinese market accounted for nearly 1/3 of the total number of international visitors to Vietnam. The Russian market only reached 19% compared to 2019. Another important market, Japan, reached 62% of pre-pandemic levels.
(Source: Data compiled by General Statistics Office; Tourism Information Technology Centre.)
