Vietnam welcomed over 12.7 million foreign tourists in the first nine months of 2024, marking a significant increase of 43% compared to the same period last year, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO).

Total tourism revenue in the nine-month period was estimated to reach VND45.6 trillion ($1.82 billion), up 16.7% year-on-year.

The Republic of Korea remained the largest tourist source market with 3.3 million, followed by China with 2.7 million. The two Northeast Asian countries accounted for 48% of Vietnam's tourism market share.

They were followed by Taiwan (China), the US, Japan and Malaysia.

Other top ten tourist source markets of Vietnam also include Australia, India, Cambodia and Thailand.

Overall, Asian inbound tourists reached over 10.12 million, surging 47.7% year-on-year, followed by Europe with over 1.4 million arrivals, up nearly 40%, Americas with 736,600 arrivals, up 7.9%, Oceania with 391,300 arrivals, up 25.8%, and Africa with 38,800 arrivals, up 90.7%.

The growth of the tourism sector in the first nine months of the year was attributed to favorable visa policy and tourism promotion programs of Vietnam as well as tourism awards granted to Vietnam by international organizations, according to the General Director of the GSO, Ms. Nguyen Thi Huong.