According to the 2012 ASEAN Community Progress Monitoring System (ACPMS) report, an annual publication of the General Statistics Office, the number of foreign tourists to Vietnam only reached 2.13 million in 2010 but the figure climbed to more than 6 million in 2011, a 2.8 fold rise from the previous year. During the development period, the figure only slid down in 2009 because of impacts from the global financial crisis and economic downturn. However, right after that, the world's tourism sector recovered more rapidly than expected in 2010.

Tourists from outside ASEAN arriving in Vietnam made up the largest proportion, with 88 percent of the total number of tourists to the country, while those from ASEAN members only accounted for 12 percent.

Although Vietnam's average tourism growth posted a relatively high 6.4 percent per annum, number of tourists from inside ASEAN to the country in 2011 only placed it in the sixth position. The contrasting general trends between the two groups will change in the near future, because the growth rate of tourists from within ASEAN is rising.

The report specified that tourist spending in Vietnam only made up 4.5 percent of the national GDP and 63.3 percent of the country's service and export turnover. Tourism exports accounted for 65.7 percent of the total service and export turnover.

During the 2005-2011 period, the country's tourism sector enjoyed a surplus and hit a record at USD4 million in 2011. Compared to other countries in the region, Vietnam's tourism exports stood in the average group.