Since the beginning of this year up to April 2012, Vietnam welcomed nearly 2.5 million foreign visitors, up 22.9 percent compared to the same period last year. In April alone, international arrivals to the country are estimated at 620,000, an18.increase 4% over the same period last year.

With such promising figures, the country expects to receive a record number of foreign tourists and foreign-currency turnover. If arrivals continue at such rate, for the rest of the year, Vietnam will receive more than seven million foreigners.

The large number of arrivals during the first part of the year is attributed to several factors, but is largely influenced by the popular holidays. During the Tet holiday, the number of international and local tourists to Hanoi increased dramatically. Non-Vietnamese arrivals reached 183,000, up 16% over the same period last year, while overseas Vietnamese arrivals totaled nearly 700,000 people. Majority of the visitors came from Russia, the Republic of Korea, Thailand and Malaysia, while fewer tourists came from Australia and Cambodia.

The number of tourists on cruise ships was also on the rise, with an increase of 67 per cent in April and 40 per cent in the first four months of the year. In the four-month period, tourists coming from mainland China is recorded at 513,200, up by 23.3 per cent; South Korea, 276,600, up by 49.3 per cent; Japan, 211,900, up 25.3 per cent; Taiwan, 155,900, up 30.2 per cent; Malaysia, 93,400, up 28.3 per cent; and Russia, 74,700, up 50.9 per cent.

The number of foreign visitors coming to Vietnam for work is shown to have the highest growth rate of 26.7 per cent among several categories. Some of the other reasons of foreign arrivals include visits to relatives. From experts’ estimate, about 1.3 million foreigners are expected to visit the country for work purposes by year-end. For independent market watchdogs, this is an encouraging sign because it showed that many foreign investors were seeking investment opportunities in the country.

Vietnam is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the Asia-Pacific region and its tourism industry has been growing unprecedentedly for the past few years. For experts, however, the current ratio of seven foreign tourists to every 100 people is still low, as compared with ratios in other countries. During 2011, statistics show that over 6 million foreign tourists came to the country, and the domestic tourism industry earned more than US$934 from each foreign visitor.

With records on hand, Vietnam's tourism industry expects to welcome 6.5 million international tourists this year and an addition of 32 million local visitors. Such number promises a turnover of VND150 trillion (about US$ 7.1 billion) in revenue, the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism said.

To reach these targets, campaigns need to be launched in order to raise awareness for community-based tourism. Tourism development must bring benefits for the community and boost the local economy in a sustainable way. Vietnam's tourism industry will continue to promote growth and sustainable development with an average yearly growth of 11.5-12 per cent between 2011 and 2020.

The country hopes to receive 10-15 million foreign tourists and 47-48 million domestic tourists by 2020. The industry should focus on improving the quality of services and develop unique tourism experiences to compete with other countries both in the region and throughout the world. The government’s support has been the key driving force for this industry. The government has been readily spending on the promotional activities across the world to boost the nation’s tourism industry. However, drastic improvements in tourism laws and regulations are still urged, as well as the protection and preservation of landscapes and historical relics.