Cable cars operate at full capacity at Ba Den Mountain site in Tay Ninh province during Tet.

The Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) reported that the number of domestic holidaymakers booking tours has increased sharply since December 2021 after the government adopted a strategy of living safely with the virus.

VNAT statistics show that tourist destinations nationwide welcomed 5.2 million arrivals in December 2021 and the figure rose sharply to 7.3 million in January 2022.

These figures are good signs for the local tourism industry which has been badly impacted by the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic for the past two years, said a VNAT representative.

Notably, Tay Ninh led localities nationwide, receiving 595,000 visitors during the Tet holiday.

Tran Quoc Thinh, director of Tay Ninh province’s Tourism Promotion Information Center, said the Ba Den Mountain tourism area received a massive influx of revelers that took advantage of free admission offered by the management board to discover the relic site on the first days of the holiday.

Elsewhere, Ba Ria-Vung Tau province came second by welcoming roughly 420,000 domestic tourists, whilst Lam Dong and Quang Ninh provinces ranked third and fourth with 300,000 and 290,000 tourists, respectively.

Meanwhile, three major Vietnamese cities - Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi and Da Nang – received 280,000, 105,000 and 35,000 arrivals, during the nine-day Tet period.