In 2017, Vietnam received 73 million domestic visitors and nearly 13 million foreign tourists, an increase of nearly 30% on year-on-year basis, with a turnover of approximately 510,000 billion dôngs (EUR 18.3 billion). An unprecedented rise.
"Welcoming nearly 13 million foreign tourists in Vietnam in 2017 and a three million year-over-year increase is a new record in Vietnam's tourism sector," said Nguyen Van Tuan, head of the National Tourism Administration.
According to him, 2017 was the first year of implementation of the Political Bureau's resolution No. 08-NQ / TW to make tourism a leading economic sector. 2017 was also an important milestone in achieving the resolution's target of 17 to 20 million foreign tourists by 2020.
According to the statistics of foreign tourists in Vietnam in the first half of 2017 published by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), Vietnam ranked 6th in the top 10 of the first countries to have the highest tourism growth rate in the world. In Asia Pacific, the country ranks first with + 31.2%.
The performance achieved in 2017 is due to the country's efforts to issue e-visas, visa waivers for certain countries and to accelerate tourism promotion activities. Many communities have taken concrete steps to attract investment, diversify and improve the quality of its tourism products.
At the recent tourism stocktaking conference, Nguyen Ngoc Thiên, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, affirmed the sector's determination to surpass the goal of welcoming 16 million foreign tourists in 2018.