Close to 8.5 million foreigners visited Vietnam in the first half of this year, a rise of 7.5 percent year on year.

Visitors coming by roads surged by 24.9 percent and those arriving by air rose by 4.5 percent. The tourism sector has set a target of welcoming 18 million foreign visitors and serving 85 million local visitors this year. Accordingly, the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism has launched tourism promotion events in key markets since the beginning of this year. Under the Politburo Resolution 08 on developing tourism into a spearhead economic sector, the tourism industry looks to attract 17-20 million foreign visitors and cater for 82 million local tourists, contribute over 10 percent of GDP, earn revenues of 35 billion USD, and generate 4 million jobs, including 1.6 million direct jobs by 2020. -VNA