According to data from the General Statistics Office, the number of international tourists to Vietnam in February exceeded 933,000, and tourism activities and international flights are gradually recovering as before the pandemic.
In the first two months of the year, the number of foreign visitors reached more than 1.8 million, almost equal to 60% of the same period in 2019 and nearly 1/4 of the target set for this year, which is 8 million visitors.
This is also the month with the highest number of international visitors since the opening in March 2022. Among them, the majority of international visitors came from Asia with nearly 1.3 million visitors; visitors from Europe reached 242,000 visitors; visitors from the Americas reached 186,000 visitors; visitors from Oceania reached 77,000 visitors, and finally, 4,300 visitors came from Africa.
Many tourism and travel service businesses have proposed changes to the visa policy to increase the number of international visitors to Vietnam. Currently, international visitors to Vietnam are only exempted from visas for 15 days, which forces them to shorten their stay in Vietnam. Some passengers are hesitant about visas, so they choose to go to other countries such as Thailand and Singapore to reduce procedures.
Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyen Van Hung has proposed that the government consider implementing electronic visas for all markets and continue to simplify visa procedures, while also strengthening the application of technology in this activity.
Especially, allow extending the temporary residence time for international visitors to Vietnam from 15 to 30 days to create favorable conditions for them to travel and move around the country.
In terms of revenue from accommodation and dining services, in the first two months of 2023, it is estimated to reach VND 109,000 billion, up 31.6% compared to the same period last year. Some localities with the highest revenue growth in the first two months of 2023 include Danang up 114.7%, Khanh Hoa up 65.7%; Quang Ninh up 47.7%; Ho Chi Minh City up 45.1%; Dong Nai up 25.4%; and Hanoi up 21.9%.
Regarding revenue from travel services, in the first two months of 2023, it is estimated to reach VND 4,700 billion, 2.2 times higher than the same period last year because many provinces/cities organize spring activities to attract tourists, while in the same period last year, they did not organize due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.