International visitor number increases 13 times in May

The number of foreign visitors to Vietnam in May grew by 12.8 times year-on-year to 172,000 as the country lifted most Covid restrictions including pre-departure test and medical declaration.

In the first five months of this year, the country welcomed 365,000 foreign tourist arrivals, up 4.5 times year-on-year, according to the General Statistics Office.

Most visitors arrived by air, accounting for over 80 percent of the total, up 6.3 times against the same period of last year.

South Korea had the largest number of visitors to Vietnam, followed by the U.S.

Officials credited the tourist arrival surge in May to SEA Games, Southeast Asia's largest sports event, as hundreds of thousands of foreign athletes and tourists flocked to northern provinces during two weeks of the event ending May 23.

Revenues from accommodation, food and beverages this month rose by 69.3 percent year-on-year.

Starting March 15, the country allowed quarantine-free entry and resumed its pre-pandemic visa exemption policy for citizens from 24 countries, including Japan, South Korea and European economies.

From April 27, Vietnam scrapped the medical declaration requirement for all foreign entrants.

Starting from mid-May, the country also removed its pre-departure Covid testing rule.

Vietnam targets five million foreign tourists this year, which is only around 30 percent of the total foreign arrivals in 2019, the year before the onset of the pandemic.