Hanoi, Nov 1 (IANS): Vietnam saw nearly 2.4 million international arrivals in the first 10 months of this year, increasing nearly 19 times from the same period last year, but still much lower than the pre-pandemic period in 2019, the country's General Statistics Office said on Tuesday.

From January to October, visitors entering the country by air amounted to approximately 2.1 million, accounting for 88.8 per cent of the total, reports Xinhua news agency.

Over the 10 months, nearly 1.7 million foreign visitors to Vietnam were from Asia, increasing over 15 times compared to the same period last year.

The number of tourists from Europe, the Americas and Oceania also saw hikes of about 27 times, 60 times and 108 times, respectively, from the same period last year.

Vietnam received a record number of over 18 million international arrivals in 2019, the last full year before the Covid-19 pandemic broke out, according to the office.

In 2020 and 2021, the number of international arrivals to Vietnam plunged 78.7 per cent and 95.9 per cent year on year, respectively.

The country targeted serving over 5 million overseas tourists in 2022, according to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism.