Vietnam hosted more than 749,000 international arrivals in the first two months of this year, a year-on-year rise of 11.3 percent, according to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) on Friday.

Among the arrivals, the number of business visitors surged most, by 16.8 percent to over 101,100, and that of tourists rose 14.9 percent to roughly 455,400.

China was Vietnam's biggest tourism market in the period with more than 95,400 visitors, followed by South Korea with nearly 93, 200 and the United States with more than 82,300.

To lure more foreign visitors, Vietnam is intensifying investment in fostering tourism promotion abroad, training personnel, especially tourist guides, and developing tourism infrastructure nationwide.

The country is tapping such traditional markets as China, Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia, North America, Western Europe and Eastern Europe.

Vietnam is eyeing 4.2-4.4 million foreign visitors and 18.5 million domestic visitors in 2007, and tourism revenues of 2.5 billion U.S. dollars, the VNAT said, adding that the country targets 5.5-6 million international arrivals and 25-26 million domestic visitors, and total tourism revenues of 4-4.5 billion dollars in 2010.

The country welcomed nearly 3.6 million foreign visitors in 2006, up from nearly 3.5 million in 2005. Meanwhile, it hosted 17. 5 million domestic visitors, up 9.4 percent, said the VNAT.

Source: Xinhua