A week before the year-end Vietnam has celebrated a new milestone with 10 million foreign tourist arrivals for 2016.
It represents a new annual record, up 25% compared to 2015.
Last year, Vietnam welcomed just 7.9 million tourists, and had originally set a 2016 target of 8.5 million.
Tourism minister Nguyen Ngoc Thien cited strong growth from European markets which can now visit for 15 days without a visa.
These include Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Russia, Spain, Sweden, and the UK.
The tourism ministry is targeting a further 15% growth for next year, which it hopes will generate revenues of more than $20 billion.
By Charles Kao
