International arrivals up 18pct y-o-y in H1/2011: GSO
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Some 2.96 million international visitors arrived in Vietnam in the first six months of 2011, up 18.1 percent over the same period last year, the General Statistical Office of Vietnam (GSO) reported.
The total number of visitors to Vietnam for tourism reached 1.77 million arrivals, up 11.2 percent, 513,000 people arrived to visit relatives, a year-on-year rise of 77.6 percent.
But the total number of visitors to Vietnam for business purposes saw a fall of 1.7 percent with only over 493,000 people.
Tourists to Vietnam arriving by air reached were nearly 2.5 million arrivals, up 23.8 percent while those arriving by sea fell 15.2 percent to 19,500. Arrivals by road decreased 4.5 percent with 452,000 people.
Also in H1, foreigners to Vietnam were mainly from China with nearly 663,000 people, rising 51.5 percent, Korean tourists reached approximately 262,000 people, up 3.7 percent, tourist from the US up 3.4 percent with 238,000 people and visitors from Singapore increased 7.8 percent with 86,000 arrivals.
