The number of foreign tourists visiting Vietnam in March has been estimated at 473,000, raising the total number of international arrivals to the country in the first quarter of this year to 1.35 million, a year-on-year increase of 36.2 percent.

According to Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT), in March, several markets saw a huge growth in the number of tourists to Vietnam, including Cambodia with a month-on-month increase of 147.2 percent; China, 115 percent; Thailand, 37 percent and the Republic of Korea, 29.5 percent.

Experts attribute the increasing number of tourists to Vietnam to the recovery in the global economy and the tourist sector’s efforts to expand markets, increase tourist promotions and organise festivals.

In the first quarter, the VNAT put many tourism promotion programmes into action, notably the programme entitled “Vietnam – your destination”.

The sector will carry out a sales campaign in August and September aimed at both domestic and international tourists and will encourage businesses to drop the prices of their tourist services by 10-30 percent.

After the encouraging growth in the first quarter, the VNAT forecasts that the country’s target of receiving 4.2 million international visitors this year may well be reached.