Cambodia, with 54,205 arrivals, down 75% from the previous month, slipped from third to ninth place, according to data from the General Statistics Office.

Vietnam welcomed over 2.2 million international visitors last month, a decrease of 9.2% compared to the previous month but an increase of 17.7% compared to the same period last year.

Overall, in the first two months of the year, the number of international visitors to Vietnam reached nearly 4.7 million, a year-on-year increase of 18.1%.

South Korea overtook mainland China to become the top market with over 971,000 visitors. There were 922,000 Chinese visitors.

Industry insiders attribute the jump to ground-breaking visa policies, strong innovation in tourism promotion and marketing, greater product diversification, and improved service quality.

Vietnam received 21.2 million visitors last year and has set a target of 25 million for this year.