HANOI, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam has welcomed a total of more than 1.5 million international arrivals since Jan. 1, up 5 percent, according to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism on Tuesday.

The highest growth of 39.7 percent in the number of visitors are from Thailand, followed by South Korea, up 23 percent, and the Philippines, up 20 percent.

Specifically, over 1.1 million visitors are from Asia, up 5.4 percent; 232,500 from Europe, up 3.1 percent; 105,300 from the Americas, mainly from the United States, up 7.8 percent; 55,400 from Oceania, up 0.2 percent, and 4,900 from Africa, down 2.1 percent against January 2018.

Vietnam has hosted 373,500 Chinese visitors so far this year, or 24.9 percent of the total international arrivals, said the administration.

Vietnam, which welcomed roughly 15.5 million international arrivals, including nearly 5 million Chinese visitors last year, is striving to receive some 18 million foreign visitors and 85 million domestic ones this year.