Tourists from Thailand made up the highest number of international visitors to the nation during the first half of the year with a growth rate of 45 percent.

The figures show that Thailand has surpassed the Republic of Korea in terms of growth rate of foreign visitors to the country. During the reviewed period, Vietnam received more than 245,000 arrivals from Thailand. According to an annual report released by the General Statistics Office, Thai tourists are particularly keen to travel to popular tourism destinations in Vietnam such as such as Da Nang, Hoi An, and, Nha Trang. Aside from the opening of several new air routes that connect major cities in Thailand to popular tourist towns in Vietnam, co-operation among ASEAN member states is also considered to be the key factor to strengthen source markets for Vietnam.  At present, the rate of tourists travelling between ASEAN nations makes up between 60 per cent to 80 per cent of the total inflow.-VNA