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Sep 18, 2017 / 18:30

More than 1.5 million South Korean travel to Vietnam in first eight months 2017

More than 1.5 million passengers from South Korea travelled to Vietnam in the first eight months of 2017, a year-on-year increase of 50%.

With the above figure, South Korea has emerged as the second source market of Viet Nam. The information was released at the ASEAN - Korea Tourism Capacity Building Workshop organized in Hoi An in the central province of Quang Nam on September 15.
South Korean travel to Vietnam.
South Korean travel to Vietnam.
The seminar, held on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the establishment of Viet Nam – South Korea diplomatic ties, was an opportunity for Vietnamese tourism officials and agencies to learn about South Korea’s tourism sector in order to improve the quality of Vietnam’s tourism.
In the 2016, Vietnam welcomed 10 million foreign visitors, up 26% against 2015, gaining US$18 billion and contributing 6.8% to the GDP. Accordingly, in the first eight months of 2017, more than eight million foreigners visited Vietnam, a year-on-year increase of 29.7%. The country now has 1,700 travel agencies and 21,000 hotels with 420,000 rooms. 
According to Deputy Director General of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) Ngo Hoai Chung, Vietnam has actively joined tourism events, fairs and road shows in South Korea as part of the efforts to boost tourism attraction to Vietnam.
On the first five months 2017, Vietnam welcomed 890,000 visitors from South Korea, a 40 per cent increase year-on-year. The country ranks second in terms of arrivals to Vietnam, behind only China. South Korea has become a new target market for Vietnam’s tourism sector thanks to growing bilateral ties, favorable air routes, and Vietnam’s visa waiver policy for South Korean nationals.
Meanwhile, since the beginning of the year, the Korea Tourism Organization and many other local authorities in South Korea have come to Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, and Danang to promote tourism.
South Korea now considers Vietnam a major source market for its tourism sector and seeks to attract more tourists from Vietnam to offset a slump in Chinese tourist arrivals after a ban by China’s government on its people traveling to Korea.
According to Le Thi Thu Trang, marketing director of the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) in Vietnam, among ASEAN countries, Vietnam ranks third in terms of arrivals in South Korea, behind Thailand and the Philippines, so many Korean firms see Vietnam as a highly potential market. In the first seven months this year, there were 200,000 tourists coming from Vietnam to South Korea, up 29% year-on-year.