Int'l Arrivals To Vietnam Up 11.2 Pct In January

HANOI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 29th Jan, 2022 ) :Vietnam welcomed over 19,700 international arrivals in January 2022, up 11.2 percent year on year, mainly thanks to pilot tourism programs and resumption of regular flights, the country's General Statistics Office said Saturday.

In the period, foreign visitors entering the country by air accounted for 88 percent of the total, followed by road with 11.9 percent and sea routes with 0.1 percent, respectively. Most of the arrivals were from Asia (70.2 percent), according to the office.

Vietnam closed its border and grounded all international flights in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, only allowing entry for Vietnamese repatriates, foreign experts and highly-skilled workers on special flights and with certain quarantine requirements.

The country has been piloting quarantine-free tourism programs to welcome back international visitors since November 2021. It resumed regular commercial flights to a number of international destinations that are highly safe from COVID-19 starting Jan. 1 this year.

Vietnam received just 157,300 international arrivals in 2021, down 95.9 percent year on year, mainly due to impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, said the office.