Vietnam will extend visa waivers for citizens of eight more countries.

The Vietnam National Administration of Tourism said visa waivers will be valid for travellers from Russia, Japan, South Korea, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Belarus until the end of 2022.

They currently enjoy visa waivers but the initial term was due to expire at the end of this year.

This is especially important for the tourism industry as Russia, South Korea and Japan are top source markets behind China.

Last year nearly 3.5 million South Koreans visited Vietnam, which was up by 44% on the previous year.

During the first 11 months of 2019, Vietnam welcomed nearly 16.3 million foreign visitors which is a year-on-year increase of more than 15%, according to the General Statistics Office.