(VOVworld) - Vietnam welcomed 5.35 million foreign arrivals in the past ten months, a year-on-year increase of 11.2 percent, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO). The number of visitors coming to Vietnam for tourism and leisure activities was nearly 3.2 million, up 8.7 percent compared to the same period last year.These figures indicate that Vietnam has fulfilled 82.3 percent of its set goal to welcome 6.5 million international holiday-makers by the end of 2012. The greatest numbers of foreign tourists visiting Vietnam this year come from the Republic of Korea, Japan, Taiwan (China), Malaysia, France and Thailand.

Over the past 10 months, Thua Thien Hue province welcomed nearly 2.2 million visitors, including 715,000 foreigners, an increase of 11% against the same period last year. The province is preparing for the Vietnam International Choir Festival and National Tourism Festival for coastal north-central region later this year.