According to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, the number of international arrivals in Vietnam in January 2011 is 470,000, up 8.9% year on year.

Accordingly, 270,000 arrived for tourism and relaxation purposes, a 4.3 percent increase compared to the same period in 2010 while arrivals for business purposes hit 90,000, a 13% year-on-year increase.

376,000 arrived by air, accounting for 80 percent, up 9.2 percent year on year and 90,000 by road, up 9.6 percent.

The highest increase in foreign tourists this month comes from Cambodia with a 41.2 percent rise, followed by France, China and Japan.

Meanwhile, Ho Chi Minh City records 310,000 tourist arrivals in January, up 10 percent year on year.

Of that, 240,000 arrived by air, up 12 percent.

An estimated 150,000 are Viet Kieu or those of Vietnamese origins but bearing foreign nationalities, mostly from the US, Australia and France.

Source: Tuoi Tre