One-pillar pagoda in Hanoi.

Hanoi welcomed 3.8 million visitors, including 655,700 foreigners in the first half of the year, a year-on-year increase of 12.4%.

The number of holiday-makers from China , Thailand , the US and Australia increased sharply, leading to the shortage of hotel rooms.

The city is expected to welcome 7.6 million visitors with 1.4 million foreign tourists by the end of this year.

Ho Chi Minh City in the period welcomed around 1.5 million foreign tourists, seeing a year-on-year increase of 16%.

The central region also saw brisk tourist activities as the number of foreign visitors travelling by sea to Nha Trang and Da Nang cities and by land via international border gates of Lao Bao and Cau Treo swelled.

Large -scale advertisement programmes also helped the World Heritage Site of Ha Long Bay in northern Quang Ninh province attract more foreign visitors. In June alone, the UNESCO-recognised world heritage site welcomed 213,000 tourists, including 130,500 foreigners. (VNA)