Hanoi, May 31 (IANS): Vietnam witnessed more than 365,300 international arrivals in the first five months of this year, a 4.5-fold increase from the same period in 2021, the General Statistics Office said on Tuesday.

In the period, visitors entering the country via air travel accounted for around 87.8 per cent of the total, reports Xinhua news agency.

Over the five months, approximately 230,988 foreign visitors to Vietnam were from Asia, tripling the figure of the same period last year.

The number of tourists from Europe, America and Oceania also saw hikes of about 11 times, 23 times and 30 times respectively from the same period last year.

Vietnam fully reopened its borders to international visitors on March 15 as part of its efforts to revive the country's tourism and economy after nearly two years of interruption due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The country received a record number of over 18 million international arrivals in 2019, the last full year before the 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, respectively.

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