Vietnam to welcome 10 mln foreign visitors in 2016

By：Xinhua Update：2016-12-21

HANOI, Dec. 21 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam is expected to welcome over 10 million international arrivals in 2016, according to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) on Wednesday.

The 10 millionth foreign visitor to Vietnam is forecast to be welcomed at Phu Quoc international airport in the southern coastal Kien Giang province on Sunday.

On the same day, a ceremony will take place to round off the 2016 National Tourism Year, which was designated to draw visitors to Vietnam's tourist attraction of Phu Quoc Island and southern Mekong Delta region.

In 2016, more than 5.4 million tourists are likely to visit Kien Giang, increasing 24 percent year-on-year and exceeding the yearly quota by 9.5 percent. Of the figure, international arrivals will grow 31.4 percent annually, 14 percent higher than initial plan.

In total, the country is set to serve more than 62 million domestic travelers this year. Together with international arrivals, total revenue from tourism sector is estimated at 400 trillion Vietnamese dong (18 billion U.S. dollars) in 2016, said the VNAT.

On Jan. 1, 2017, Vietnam will begin issuing e-visa for foreign tourists. As such, the tourism sector has set goals of receiving 11.5 million foreign visitors and revenue of 460 trillion Vietnamese dong (20.24 billion U.S. dollars) in 2017.