VN welcomes 3.7 mln foreign visitors in nine months

The number of foreign visitors to Vietnam in the first nine months of this year reached over 3.7 million, up 34.2 percent over the same period of last year, according to the General Statistics Office.
Of the total, the number of leisure visitors reached over 2.3 million, up 43.3 percent, that of business visitors was over 757,000, up 39.8 percent and those who visited relatives increased by 2 percent to 425,000.
Cambodia registered the highest growth in the number of visitors to Vietnam, up over 92 percent. It was followed by China, Thailand, the Republic of Korea and Australia with a growth of 89 percent, 39 percent, 29 percent and 27 percent, respectively.
Experts forecast that the number of foreign visitors to Vietnam would continue to increase as a series of major domestic and international events will be held in the country between now and the end of this year, especially activities to celebrate the 1,000 th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi from October 1-10.
The tourism sector is expected to welcome 4.2 million international tourists this year.