Foreign arrivals to Vietnam last month reached 722,349, up 21% compared to the same period last year, the National Administration of Tourism announced on Feb 4.

All the country’s major markets have seen rises this January, with the greatest surges, 89%, 87%, 58%, 21% and 20%, recorded in the markets of Russia, Hong Kong, Germany, the Philippines and Norway respectively compared to the same period last year.

According to the Thua Thien - Hue Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, from Jan 28 to Feb 4 (some days prior to and during Tet), Hue city received more than 60,000 arrivals, up 20% compared to last year’s Tet. Among them, 70% are foreigners, mostly from South Korea, the US, France, Japan, Germany, Australia and the UK.

Meanwhile, according to Nguyen Tuan Viet, chair of the Ba Ria – Vung Tau Tourism Association, most resorts and hotels in Vung Tau city and from Long Hai to Xuyen Moc were filled to their capacity during the Tet holiday.

Viet added that the Ho Chi Minh City – Long Thanh – Dau Giay highway, which recently came into operation, considerably boosts the influx of foreigners from HCMC to the province compared to previous years.

The HCMC Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced that the foreign arrivals at the city within Jan 2014 reached roughly 382,000, up 12% compared to the same period last year.

Vietravel also told Tuoi Tre on Feb 4 that there’re still a number of Vietnamese tourists in Bangkok, Thailand, which has seen political chaos in recent weeks. The tourists said they have had almost no difficulty at Bangkok’s tourist complexes and shopping malls, which operate as usual, though traffic congestion is sometimes more serious than usual.