Foreign tourists visit the ancient town of Hoi An.

The May figure was nearly 13  times higher than that of the same month last year, the GSO said. A majority of the foreigners travelled to Vietnam by air from January-May. 

Five-month earnings from tourism surged 34.7%against a year earlier as a result of strong recovery of tourism activities and SEA Games 31, the region’s largest sports event which attracted thousands of athletes, coaches, officials and spectators from other Southeast Asian countries. 

Vietnam has moved up eight places on the 2021 Tourism and Travel Development Index (TTDI), according to a report recently released by the World Economic Forum (WEF).