South Korea continued to be the top source of tourists during the seven months, with 2.59 million, followed by mainland China (2.1 million), Taiwan (731,000), the U.S. (478,000), and Japan (380,000), according to data from the General Statistics Office.

The top 10 was rounded off by Australia (281,270), Malaysia (281,096), India (271,000), Cambodia (260,000), and Thailand (247,000).

But the July figure was down 10% from the previous month and the lowest this year as the low season for international tourism began.

During a meeting in July Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh instructed the ministries of public security and foreign affairs to consider waiving visas for national of several countries to foster tourism recovery.

Vietnam now waives visas for nationals of 25 countries compared to 162 by Malaysia and Singapore, 157 by the Philippines and 93 by Thailand.

Thailand saw over 20 million foreign arrivals in January-July.