Hanoi (VNA) – Thetotal tourist arrivals to the capital city of Hanoi rose by over 12.4 percentannually to more than 440,000 during April 27 – May 1 holiday.

The municipal TourismDepartment reported that foreign arrivals topped 91,200, up 17.9 percent, andover 64,000 of them stayed overnight. Meanwhile, domestic ones neared 349,200,up 11 percent.

The total tourism revenue wasestimated at 754 billion VND (32.41 million USD), marking a 36.9 percent riseyear-on-year.

According to the municipalpublic security’s immigration management office, most of the foreigners toHanoi during the holiday came from the Republic of Korea (RoK), China, Japan,Taiwan (China), France, Australia, the UK, the US, Germany, and Malaysia. The highesthike is seen in the number of visitors from the RoK with 20.3 percent, reachingnearly 9,000.

Notably, occupancy rate inthree- to five-star hotels neared 70 percent, equivalent to the same periodlast year, such as Pullman (85 percent), De L’Opera (78 percent), Lotte (75percent), Sheraton (70 percent), and Metropole (68 percent).

Deputy Director of thedepartment Nguyen Anh Dung attributed the result to the improvement of servicequality in relic sites, museums, entertainment areas and resorts.

The municipal tourism sectortargets welcoming 18 million foreigners this year.

Last year,the capital city welcomed nearly 318,000 visitors during the holiday whichlasted for four days, up 10 percent from the same period of 2017. Nearly 66,000foreigners and 252,000 domestic tourists came to Hanoi, respectively rising by20 percent and 7 percent.

Popularattractions include the Temple of Literature, the Imperial Citadel of ThangLong, Ngoc Son Temple, Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, Huong Pagoda, Khoang Xanh – SuoiTien and Ao Vua tourist sites, and Ba Vi National Park.-VNA