The number of foreign visitors to Vietnam in June is estimated at529,000, down 8.2 percent from May, making it the 13 th consecutivemonth the country has experienced a decrease in foreign touristarrivals. Of the total, the number of visitorstravelling by air reduced by 8.6 percent and over land by 8.9 percentwhile those coming by waterways grew 2.5 times, according to the GeneralStatistics Office. Data also revealed that thenumber of tourists from Europe experienced the greatest decrease rate of14.7 percent with Asian visitors also down 10.6 percent and fromOceania rising by 1.6 percent. Specificnations with decreased rates include France (nearly 50 percent), China(30.2 percent) and the Republic of Korea (10.6 percent). Meanwhile, the number of US travellers to Vietnam saw a 31.1 percent increase. In the first half of 2015, foreign tourist arrivals were estimated at3.8 million, down 11.3 percent against the same period last year. Head of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism Nguyen VanTuan attributed the decrease to the fall of tourists from China andChinese-speaking markets, which make up 25 percent of the total foreigntourists to Vietnam, since May 2014. Atpresent, the outbreak of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) inthe Republic of Korea, which has claimed more than 30 lives, is alsoaffecting the tourism sector in Asia, including Vietnam.-VNA