Viet Nam welcomed around 250,000 foreign visitors in April, bringing the total number of foreign travellers it has received in the first four months of this year to 1.13 million, a 20.2 percent year-on-year increase.

The number of domestic travellers also increased 6.1 percent from the same period last year to 5 million in the first four months.

The good performance was attributed to the fact that many festivals have been organised around the country recently, including an ethnic minority art festival in the central province of Thua Thien - Hue, a traditional festival of the Khmer ethnic minority group in the southwestern region, a tourism programme named Thinking of the Homeland in the central province of Nghe An, and the Hung Kings Temple Festival in the northern province of Phu Tho.

In particular, events held by localities last month to commemorate the 30th anniversary of southern Viet Nam`s liberation and national reunification, also attracted a large number of visitors.

During the liberation and May Day holidays from April 30 to May 3, tourists flocked to the Mekong city of Can Tho, whose ecological sites, floating markets and trade fairs welcomed more than 200,000 visitors.

Buon Ma Thuot town of the Central Highlands province of Dac Lac also received around 15,000 visitors a day, an increase of 20 percent over the same period last year.

Meanwhile, the Ponagar Tower Festival in Nha Trang town of the central coastal province of Khanh Hoa attracted a record 10,000 visitors from April 30 to May 2.