Specifically, Vietnam's goods retail sales stood at nearly 2,698 trillion Vietnamese dong (119.3 billion U.S. dollars), up 10.8 percent, with sales of automobiles growing 17.8 percent, precious metals and gemstones growing 15.2 percent, food and foodstuffs growing 10.4 percent, educational and cultural products growing 9.7 percent, and garments growing 9.2 percent. Restaurant and accommodation revenues were 445.3 trillion Vietnamese dong (19.7 billion U.S. dollars), up 12.4 percent, and tourism revenues were 33.7 trillion Vietnamese dong (nearly 1.5 billion U.S. dollars), up 16.2 percent.
Vietnam welcomed over 11.6 million foreign visitors in the first 11 months of this year, up 27.8 percent on-year, said the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism.
This year, Vietnam targeted to welcome 11.5 million person-times of foreign visitors and serve 66 million domestic travelers, pocketing 460 trillion Vietnamese dong (20.63 billion dollars) in tourism revenue, said the administration.
Tourism is expected to contribute 10 percent to Vietnam’s gross domestic product by 2020 when the country expects to receive up to 20 million foreign visitors and earn $35 billion in tourism revenue.