Strategies to draw visitors

Travel businesses are transforming tourist experiences into products and strategies for developing tourism activities. According to Nguyen Hoai Thu, Director of Saigontourist’s Ha Noi Travel Branch, the ASEAN visitor market to Viet Nam is demonstrating encouraging growth, particularly from Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, and the Philippines. Travellers from the region are increasingly interested in beach holidays, cultural experiences, cuisine, urban tourism, and programmes combining meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE). Destinations such as Ha Noi, Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang, Phu Quoc, Nha Trang, and Ha Long remain popular due to their capacity to accommodate diverse needs.

To welcome this flow of visitors, Saigontourist is forgeing stronger links with ASEAN partners while participating in tourism promotion programmes in Thailand, Singapore, and the Philippines spearheaded by Saigontourist Group in coordination with Viet Nam Airlines.

“Through business meetings, product showcases, and expanded cooperation with international tourism and aviation partners, and technology platforms, we aim to create more channels for drawing ASEAN visitors to Viet Nam while developing products that better match the needs of each market,” Thu said.

Viet Nam’s tourism sector is registering robust growth from several international markets. According to the Statistics Department under the Ministry of Finance, Viet Nam welcomed 13.9 million international visitors in the first seven months of the year, up 13.8% year on year and equivalent to around 56% of the target of 25 million visitors for 2026. China led the market with around 3.1 million arrivals, followed by the Republic of Korea with 2.4 million. Notably, the number of Russian visitors reached 864,000, up 174% and more than double the 2019 figure, driven by the restoration of direct flights and rising demand for holidays.

Europe was among the fastest-growing regions, with an average increase of 53.4%. Arrivals from Poland rose 51.3%, the Czech Republic 28.6%, Sweden 24.7%, and Switzerland 21.7%. The visa exemption policy has catalysed arrivals from the region. In Asia, arrivals from the Philippines rose 63.6%, India 42.9%, Cambodia 40.8%, Singapore 31%, Indonesia 27.3%, and Malaysia 21.6%. Markets such as the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand also registered increases of 18.3%, 25.1%, 22.5%, and 22.4%, respectively.

According to Nguyen Trung Khanh, Director General of the Viet Nam National Authority of Tourism, against a backdrop of continued uncertainty in international tourism and the current low season, double-digit growth underscores that Viet Nam’s appeal as a destination continues to fortify, bolstered by the effectiveness of a more open visa policy, expanded air connectivity, stronger tourism promotion, and improved tourism products and services.

Specifically, the Viet Nam National Authority of Tourism has developed several shared digital platforms to establish the foundation for a smart tourism ecosystem, including a tourism database system; information systems covering travel businesses, tour guides, and tourist sites and attractions; a tourism management and business platform to support connections between state management agencies, local authorities, and businesses; and the Viet Nam Travel app, which integrates multiple services for tourists. The authority has also worked with localities and businesses to organise the launch of the 2026 Viet Nam Tourism Promotion and Marketing Programme. A notable new feature is that the programme has been developed by integrating domestic and overseas promotional activities across the system, from central and local authorities to businesses.

“This approach enables agencies to proactively plan their activities, improve coordination, reduce duplication of events, optimise socialised resources, and create stronger nationwide links, thereby elevating market outreach and the competitiveness of Vietnamese tourism,” Khanh said.

Accelerating towards the finish line

In 2026, the Government has set the tourism sector a target of welcoming 25 million international visitors, an increase of around 25% from 2025. Meanwhile, the global trend towards tighter spending, together with increasingly fierce competition from Southeast Asian countries in visa policies, tourism promotion, and demand stimulation, generates additional pressure. Therefore, the final months of the year will be a crucial period for catalysing growth, requiring coordinated short-, medium- and long-term measures.

In the short term, the focus is on continuing to effectively implement Politburo Resolution No. 08 on developing tourism into a spearhead economic sector; Government Resolution No. 82 on accelerating tourism recovery and promoting effective and sustainable development; as well as relevant government dispatches and directives issued by the Prime Minister. At the same time, efforts will be intensified to amend the 2017 Law on Tourism and related decrees, and to finalise the scheme for developing tourism into a spearhead economic sector in the new period.

The Viet Nam National Authority of Tourism will continue to review and adjust the Viet Nam Tourism Development Strategy to 2030 to reflect the new context; position Viet Nam as a safe, friendly, and attractive destination; diversify markets, focusing on visitor groups with high spending capacity; intensify tourism promotion and marketing; and prioritise digital transformation, particularly the development of a digital data ecosystem for the tourism sector. In the medium and long term, priorities include improving the legal and institutional framework, developing infrastructure, strengthening links between tourism products and destinations, promoting digital and green transformation, improving the effectiveness of state management, and enhancing the competitiveness of tourism businesses.

From a business perspective, the Director of Saigontourist’s Ha Noi Travel Branch said intra-ASEAN tourism cooperation would continue to gather momentum. Accordingly, Saigontourist Group, Viet Nam Airlines, and the Thai Travel Agents Association (TTAA) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation for the 2026–2029 period. This is an example of the trend towards stronger cooperation, the development of multi-destination products, and the promotion of Viet Nam and Thailand as a single destination.

To attract more visitors from the region, Viet Nam needs to continue intensifying promotional activities in key markets; develop more distinctive tourism products tailored to the needs of different visitor segments; strengthen links between the tourism and aviation sectors; expand cooperation with international digital tourism platforms; and elevate service quality, destination experiences, and visitor-handling capacity. In addition, developing cross-border tourism products within ASEAN and promoting itineraries linking multiple destinations across the region will help increase Viet Nam’s appeal to international visitors while creating more opportunities for the country to become an important stopover on ASEAN travel itineraries.

From a regional perspective, Dr Justin Matthew Pang, Senior Lecturer in Tourism and Hospitality Management at RMIT University Viet Nam, said Viet Nam offers an affordable and relatively safe travel experience, with low crime rates and political stability. Infrastructure has been and continues to be advanced, from roads and airports to shopping centres and entertainment parks. Viet Nam has upgraded several airports and expanded flight routes, for example to India, a crucial source market for tourists.

However, the advantages of a destination need to be matched by consistent service quality. The tourism sector needs to elevate foreign-language proficiency, particularly English, while developing a customer-focused workforce that is flexible in communication and better able to meet visitors’ diverse needs.

Viet Nam also needs to refine and streamline procedures for tourists, particularly immigration procedures at airports. Long queues in immigration areas remain an issue frequently raised by visitors. Biometric immigration control systems have been introduced, but Viet Nam needs to make more effective use of the technology and could consider studying a passport-free entry model similar to Singapore’s.

In addition, many destinations, despite offering novel products, need to continually innovate and elevate service quality to maintain their appeal and encourage repeat visits. Updating games and attractions at entertainment parks, organising new exhibitions at museums, and adding new experiences are among the areas that should receive greater attention.

“If these issues are addressed effectively, Viet Nam can elevate the visitor experience, create a competitive advantage, and magnify its appeal compared with other destinations in the region,” Justin Matthew Pang said.

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