Viet Nam ranks third among the 10 fastest-growing foreign tourist destinations in 2017 and 2016, according to Tourism Highlights Report 2018 recently released by United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).
The Trang An Eco-tourism area
Egypt topped the list with 55.1% growth, followed by Togo and Viet Nam with 46.7% and 29.1%, respectively. Next are Palestine, Niue, Nepal, Israel, Northern Mariana Islands, Turkey, Iceland and Macedonia.
The report showed Europe is most favored by tourists with 671 million, making up nearly half of global total tourism (1.3 billion). This continent also sees 6 of the 10 countries receiving the largest number of tourists in 2017, with France taking the lead.
It was followed by Asia - Pacific with 323 million, America with 209 million, Africa 63 million and the Middle East with 58 million.
For the level of spending on each overseas trip in 2017, Chinese tourists are the biggest payers with about USD258 billion, making up nearly one fifth of the global total of about USD1,300 billion, followed by the US with USD135 billion.