Koreans lead Vietnam tour rankings

/ Courtesy of Vietnam National Administration of Tourism

By Lee Ji-hye

Koreans have topped Vietnam’s tourist list. The Vietnam National Administration of Tourism said Wednesday that 18 percent of all foreign tourists over the past two months were Koreans.

In January and February alone, of a total of 1,456,692 international visitors, 262,013 Koreans visited Vietnam.

Chinese tourists ranked second with 237,083 and Japanese tourists third with 116,914.

Visitors from the United States and Australia came in fourth and fifth, respectively.

Chinese tourists had topped the list until this year.

"Vietnam has targeted Korean tourists by selling package travel deals that include trips to Laos and Cambodia ㅡ which makes the Vietnam trip stand out compared to Thailand and the Philippines," a Vietnamese official said.