HCMC - A mere 26,200 international tourists visited Vietnam in April, plunging by 94.2% against the month earlier and 98.2% year-on-year, according to data from the General Statistics Office of Vietnam.

Vietnam suspended the issuance of visas for visitors from all countries beginning March 18 to contain the spread of Covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, leading to the deep fall in international tourist arrivals.

In the first four months of the year, Vietnam welcomed some 3.7 million foreign travelers, dropping by 37.8% year-on-year.

The number of visitors from Asia, such as China, South Korea, Japan, Thailand and Malaysia, accounted for 2.7 million, or 72.7% of the total, tumbling by 40.3% against the year-ago figure.

The country also saw a drop in the number of tourists from Europe and the United States.

Some travel firms have resumed their operations and planned to offer various promotional tourism programs to attract tourists after the prolonged suspension due to the coronavirus pandemic, Nguoi Lao Dong newspaper reported.

Many tour operators said that their operations are focusing on tapping the local market at this time, as the disease has made foreign travel difficult, adding that arranging tours for domestic tourists to foreign countries and welcoming foreign visitors have yet to begin again.