The figures were released at a September 26 ceremony in Hanoi launching World Tourism Day 2013 themed “Tourism and Water: Protecting our Common Future”.

Foreign arrival numbers recovered after some minor declines at the beginning of the year. Domestic tourist growth never waned.

VNAT September statistics record nearly 615,000 foreign arrivals, down 9.1% from August but up 28.9% against September 2012.

Overall in nine months the tourism industry earned VND153 billion in revenue, a 23.5% improvement on a year earlier.

At the ceremony, VNAT Deputy General Director Nguyen Manh Cuong acknowledged some of the industry’s weaknesses, including disappointing progress in management and service quality, insufficient promotion, poor tour guide training, and supply and demand imbalances.

On September 27, 200 of Hanoi’s college and university students will participate in a cycling event marking World Tourism Day.